shudderingThud said...
Hi. For those in the RALP group, did you have a Spinal Block as well as a general?
Or did you wish you had one?
I understand the Spinal Block still numbs for about 12 hours or more after surgery, but can leave you with a bad headache.
My surgery will be late in the day. Don't want to feel the spasms all night.
All kinds of places do it all kinds of different ways. I used to administer spinals, and if one ever lasted much over 4 hours(mostly 1 1/2 to 2) we would be starting to worry. But who knows, they may have some newer spinal drug now that lasts 12 hours. Also, I have not heard of giving both a general(as opposed to sedation as needed) and a spinal together, although no doubt some one some where does such a thing.
Now if you are talking about
an epidural(which is very similar to a spinal except you stop the needle about
1/8" short of the actual spinal canal which contains the spinal fluid) that is a different story. (or a combined spinal/epidural) That can be the real cat's meow for surgeries that are really painful for days after surgery. They thread a plastic catheter into the epidural space(just like for a woman during childbirth) and either use it for the surgery with sedation as needed, or along with a full general so that you need much less general anesthesia, or don't use it at all until you start waking up from the general. At which time they start injecting(into the epidural catheter) rather dilute anesthetics that won't make you so numb you can't move(hopefully) but block most of the pain. And then reinject every few hours as needed, or put you on a pump that infuses a low dose constantly. So that you will need zero or much less narcotics. This can be used for days if needed.
As for the headache, you can definitely get a severe headache from a spinal, but most do not, especially with today's smaller needles that are commonly used. You will NOT get one with an epidural UNLESS there is an accidental spinal ( wet tap ) that happens while trying to do the epidural. My long term average rate was one wet tap in several hundred epidurals. In that case, since the epidural needles are much bigger in diameter than the spinal needles, you have a very high chance of getting a bad headache. Believe it or not, the fix for a bad spinal headache is another epidural, when they inject about
20 ml of your own blood drawn from your arm at the time(blood patch). The blood clots and seals the hole that is allowing spinal fluid to leak. Usually works like a charm and is an instant cure.
But, as for taking the risk(everything has possible complications such as headaches and worse) of adding a block to your general, if you are going to have a general anyway, I found I had very little pain after RRP compared to most other surgeries. I had no actual pain, just one spot that was super sore for a few days( I think it was on my right side) and felt like they had hit me with a baseball bat. But that was only a problem if I bumped it. Overall, I had very little physical pain post op. Others may differ no doubt.
Hope that helps.
Bill in MS