Definition

• Local/regional anesthesia is a technique that results in absence of sensation (anesthesia) in a part of the body.
• It involves the administration of local anesthetic agents which prevent the transmission of noxious stimuli via the peripheral nervous system and spinal cord to the brain.
• Local anesthesia is the only technique that prevents transmission of noxious stimuli and therefore provides true analgesia; all other analgesic agents modify the body’s response to noxious stimuli, producing a ‘hypoalgesic’ effect.

Introduction

Physiology

Pharmacology of local anesthetics

Classes of local blocks

Complications

Further Reading

Publications

Refereed Papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Anderson D E, Desrochers A & van Amstel S R (2017) Surgical procedures of the distal limb for treatment of sepsis in cattle. Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract 33 (2), 329-350 PubMed.
• Bates A J, Laven R A, Chapple F & Weeks D S (2016) The effect of different combinations of local anaesthesia, sedative and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on daily growth rates of dairy calves after disbudding. N Z Vet J 64 (5), 282-7 PubMed.
• Edmondson M A (2016) Local, regional, and spinal anesthesia in ruminants. Vet Clin North Am Food Anim Pract 32 (3), 535-552 PubMed.
• Winder C B, LeBlanc S J, Haley D B, Lissemore K D et al (2016) Practices for the disbudding and dehorning of dairy calves by veterinarians and dairy producers in Ontario. Can J Dairy Sci 99 (12), 10161-10173 PubMed.

Other sources of information

• Valverde A & Sinclair M (2015) Ruminant and Swine Local Anesthetic and Analgesic Techniques. In: Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Blackwell Publishing.

  Eds: Clarke K & Trim. 11th edn. Elsevier.