Epidural Anesthesia

The benefits of regional anesthesia over general anesthesia are well-documented and include avoidance of airway manipulation, experience of childbirth, decreased blood loss, reduced maternal mortality, improved postoperative pain control, and the ability to use fewer intraoperative drugs. The correct order for the midline approach to the lumbar epidural space is skin, subcutaneous tissue, supraspinous ligament, interspinous ligament, and lastly ligamentum flavum. Risks of utilizing regional anesthesia include hypotension, postdural puncture headache, local anesthetic systemic toxicity, need to convert epidural anesthesia to general anesthesia, and intraoperative discomfort.