whats the difference between a spinal and an epideral?

Question

I am pregnant with my 3rd child and got an epidural with my first 2. I would like to do with out but know I wont be able to go completely natural. I saw someone mention a spinal and that you can walk around with it. What are other differences...What is a spinal?

Answer 1

Spinal anesthetics are not usually used for routine deliveries. Can be used for caesarian sections .Level of anesthetic can be effected by contractions and there is always the possibility of spinal fluid loss when using a larger guage needle which in turn can cause nasty headaches. Walking around is not usually recommended right after a spinal, even though using a smaller guage needle will allow earlier ambulation and lower incidence of spinal related problems.
Difference: With spinal, the needle is inserted into the area where the spinal fluid is located and when the anesthetic agent is injected the drug envelopes the spinal cord. With epidural, the needle is inserted to an area where there is no spinal fluid, away from the spinal cord. A catheter is enserted through the needle into this space which can be left in place so that anesthetic drugs can be injected whenever required. The drug anesthetises the nerves leaving the spinal cord and by controlling the dose and volume of anesthetic drug, the level of anesthesia can be controlled.
Regards. cruisebloke

Answer 2

hope this helps

Effective regional anaesthesia for caesarean section can be achieved by both spinal or epidural techniques
Compared to epidural, spinal anaesthesia allows surgery to begin earlier, but increases the need to treat hypotension. There was no difference shown with respect to failure rate, need for additional intraoperative analgesia, conversion to general anaesthesia intraoperatively, maternal satisfaction, and neonatal intervention. Differences in side-effects such as post dural puncture headache, nausea and vomiting, and postoperative complications needing anaesthetic intervention were inconclusive due to the small numbers reported. No studies reported breastfeeding ability and time to ambulation post surgery.

Answer 3

my dr told me spinals are more accurate than a spinal meaning they dont have blocks of unnumbness. but they dont use a spinal unless you are having a csection. also you cannot walk on the spinal. you are so numb. i was walking however 2 hours after my csection once i could move my legs, and the spinal wore off.