Nerve block

[carol1964]

Just being nosey! I'm going for spine nerve block tomorrow, letter says u can't eat/drink after midnight,I thought with local anistetic you were ok to drink/eat!

[Court]

I am waiting for a date to have my 3rd nerve block. I also could not eat or drink. I was given a sedative injection and don't remember any more until it had been done. I was not aware that I had been asleep. but did wonder how I had a different nurse!!

[ZedT]

Its just a precaution. If any emergency situation arose where you had to be admitted and operated on they want you to have no risk of vomiting so they can give you general anesthetic if necessary. Don't worry, the emergency situations they are thinking about are not directly related to the spinal block, its the same with all minor procedures in Outpatients.

[Sheryl4659]

Hi it's as the other replies, even a mild sedative could make you feel a bit sickly, I got a nice surprise when I had my 1st one, my consultant believed in given his patients a cup of tea when they arrived so you may be lucky!

[stephencox]

Hope you see this. You will likely only be given a local in yr back when lying on x-Ray table. It may feel like you're being scratched with barbed wire as the sensation spreads. If the doctor says how does it feel (and how should you know how it should feel?) say " I'm not sure, can I wait a bit?" In my case I replied (not knowing how to reply) "OK?" and without further warning the injection went in. I might as well have been shot with a gun. I screamed! I will never return. However, a year later I'm very much better (sciatica, right side) with help of co-codomol 30/500, loosely tied shoe, and hand controls on car for use whenever pain might be triggered in traffic or long trip. Try for a 'general' but NHS economies may preclude it.

[johnsmith]

The local anesthetic is being applied to the spine. The spine is a nerve centre which controls a lot of the muscular action in the digestive system. So it would be sensible not to have anything in the digestive system that could cause potential problems when the spinal area is numbed.

Not the complete answer, but hopefully one that is enough.

[briar-rose]

Yes, I agree with the others, just had my scs implant re done - they use locals but also give a sedative, which last time I had a violent reaction to - threw up within 30 seconds of being given it, thank heavens I hadn't eaten or it would have been much worse to deal with. is a sensible precaution - I recommend having a good snack just before midnight, that way you wont feel so hungry in the morning. good luck.