Difference between local and regional anesthesia

Nursing Students General Students

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Specializes in LTC.

I can't quite seem to figure out the difference between local and regional anesthesia. Can someone explain this to me?

Thanks.

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

This is information from a patient teaching sheet about anesthesia from my local hospital. According to it, it has to do with how the drug is delivered:

Local Anesthesia:

This is a minor nerve block. The same kind the dentist does when you get a shot of novacain to numb your gum so the dentist can work on a tooth. It creates a temporary loss of feeling and/or movement of a specific area or it could also be a limb. A
drug is injected near nerves in or
through the skin
providing loss of sensation to the area of the surgical operation. Risks include infection, convulsions, weakness, persistent numbness, residual pain and injury to the blood vessels.

Regional Anesthesia:

Regional anesthesia is where a
drug is injected
into the veins
of an arm or leg
while using a tourniquet to create temporary loss of feeling and/or movement of a limb. Risks include infection, convulsions, persistent numbness, residual pain and injury to the blood vessels.

Here are weblinks to information about the different types of anesthesia. Other sources seem to indicate that the consciousness of the patient is also a deciding factor. For local anesthesia the patient is conscious. For regionals, the patient can either be under conscious sedation or awake. They all seem to say something different, so I can see why you are having difficulty figuring out the difference. I would say that a local covers only a small area, where a regional covers a larger area of the body--if you had to distinguish between the two:

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