During surgery, and sometimes during obstetrical deliveries, a spinal anesthetic is employed. This brief video demonstrates the use of spinal anesthesia just before a Cesarean Section.

It’s main advantages are rapid onset, effective coverage, and if low enough, good pelvic relaxation for instrumented deliveries.

It’s main disadvantage is maternal hypotension that can result from a combination of peripheral vasodilatation and maternal supine position with vena cava compression.

Saddle Block

This is a variation of spinal anesthesia, commonly used in obstetrics.

After standard administration of the spinal anesthesia, the patient sits upright for a brief period of time. The anesthetic, being slightly heavier than spinal fluid, will drift downward, impacting the lower spinal nerves.

The consequence of this maneuver is to provide anesthesia to the area of the body that would be in contact with a saddle, if she were riding a horse. Excellent perineal anesthesia and muscle relaxation is achieved, placing this among the better choices of anesthesia when instrumented deliveries are contemplated.