TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Local Anesthetics A1 - Ciccone, Charles D. A1 - Bednarek, Melissa L. A1 - Miller, Kenneth L. PY - 2022 T2 - Pharmacology in Rehabilitation, 5e AB - Local anesthesia is designed to produce a loss of sensation in a specific body part or region. Therapists must be aware that motor effects may also occur, impacting patient safety. Medical practitioners use it to perform relatively minor surgical procedures. The approach involves introducing an anesthetic drug near the peripheral nerve that innervates the desired area. The basic goal is to block afferent neural transmission along the peripheral nerve so that the procedure is painless. When a local anesthetic is introduced in the vicinity of the spinal cord, transmission of impulses may be effectively blocked at a specific level of the cord, allowing for more extensive surgical procedures (e.g., cesarean delivery) because a larger region of the body is being anesthetized. This approach is still considered a local anesthetic because the drug acts locally at the spinal cord and the patient remains conscious during the surgical procedure. SN - PB - F. A. Davis Company CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - fadavispt.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1188528592 ER -