Glossary of Anesthesia Terms spinal anesthetic An anesthetic technique where local anesthetic is placed into the spinal canal using a very small needle. The patient becomes completely numb and unable to move from about the bottom of the ribcage down to the toes.
Patients remain awake for the procedure but they often receive sedation along with the spinal.
Prior to insertion of a spinal needle, the patient's back is anesthetized with local anesthetic . The top picture demonstrates insertion of the very thin spinal needle. Here the spinal needle is actually passed through a larger introducer needle, which is used to get through the skin. The lower picture shows injection of the spinal anesthetic.