Spinal anesthesia finds many applications in today's operating rooms. It is often chosen for operations involving the lower abdomen, legs, and feet, C-Sections in obstetrics, and for prostate surgery. The procedure of administering spinal anesthesia (also known as subarachnoid block) involves the insertion of a needle in between the bones of the spine and into the spinal fluid. This is usually preceded by the injection of a local anesthetic to numb the area where the spinal will be inserted. The injection of the local normally stings as it is injected, but most people do not have significant discomfort during the insertion of the spinal needle itself. Once the correct location of the needle has been determined, a small dose of medication is administered into the spinal fluid. This medication blocks the transmission of impulses along the nervous pathways, preventing messages of pain from ever reaching the brain and also preventing the brain's movement commands from ever reaching the muscles in the affected body parts. Spinal anesthesia thus results in numbness and immobility in the targeted area of the body, which provides your surgeon with good operating conditions.

In certain cases, spinal anesthesia can have several advantages over general anesthesia. It is the preferred choice for transurethral resection of the prostate, or "TURP," because it allows the patient to be awake enough to report certain symptoms that can give early warning of surgical complications such as fluid overload or bladder perforation. It is frequently employed in older patients that have orthopedic procedures such as surgery to repair a fractured hip because patients in this age bracket more frequently have co-existing medical conditions such as emphysema and heart disease. In addition, other patients may benefit from the use of spinal anesthesia because of it carries less risk of pulmonary reactions or postoperative nausea and vomiting.