What is local anesthesia?
Local anesthesia causes pain suppression in a limited area, for example on the skin or in the supply area of entire nerves in the extremities. The drugs used (local anesthetics) interrupt signal transmission in the nerve endings. This produces a local anesthetic. The duration and strength of the effect depend on the type of local anesthetic and the amount administered.
Doctors distinguish several types of local anesthesia:
- surface anesthesia: application of the local anesthetic to the skin or mucous membrane
- Infiltration anesthesia: injection of the local anesthetic into the skin or other tissue
- Regional anesthesia (conduction anesthesia): Blockage of an entire nerve, for example in the jaw or on the hand
When do you perform local anesthesia?
- Injuries to the extremities
- Pain elimination in the throat when placing a feeding tube or a breathing tube while awake
- minor surgical procedures, such as suturing wounds
- dental interventions
- chronic pain, for example in the back or muscles
- preparation for blood sampling in children with the help of an analgesic patch
What is done during a local anesthetic?
In principle, local anesthesia uses special drugs to interrupt the transmission of signals to the nerves. Pain stimuli, as well as signals for pressure or temperature, are no longer transmitted from the anesthetized area to the brain. This means that the patient can no longer consciously perceive these stimuli in the affected body region.
Surface anesthesia
In surface anesthesia, the anesthetic medication is applied directly to the skin or mucous membrane. Sprays, ointments and solutions are used. The agents are absorbed into the skin or mucous membrane and block the nerves there in a relatively small area.
Infiltration anesthesia
Regional anesthesia
What are the risks of local anesthesia?
In principle, local anesthesia is associated with significantly fewer risks than general anesthesia, since the drugs used only act within a circumscribed area and not throughout the entire body. However, it is possible that larger amounts of the active ingredients enter the bloodstream and then have a systemic effect.
Allergic reactions to a local anesthetic are also possible, although rare. These manifest themselves, for example, in itching and reddening of the skin, and in severe cases also in respiratory distress and circulatory failure. Furthermore, the injection site can become inflamed after the injection of the medication if germs get into it.
