Lower back pain after half body anesthesia

When people undergo surgery, they usually need anesthesia to reduce the pain the patient endures during the operation. However, there are generally two options for anesthesia, one is semi-body anesthesia and the other is general anesthesia. If you choose half-body anesthesia, you need to inject anesthetic drugs into the lumbar spine. Therefore, many patients who choose half-body anesthesia experience waist pain after surgery. Is this normal?

The incidence of back pain after hemiplegia is the same as that after general anesthesia, and most of them can heal on their own. The effects of spinal anesthesia usually begin to wear off two hours after the anesthesia is given, and full consciousness is restored after eight hours. If you can lie flat for 6 hours after anesthesia, drink plenty of water after getting up, and get out of bed and move around slowly, you are less likely to have back pain.

Because hemiplegia is administered through the intervertebral space to temporarily block the nerves, it will not damage the spine. The half-body anesthesia needle is inserted into the spinal space, that is, between two lumbar vertebrae, which is mainly some soft tissues such as muscles, ligaments, fat, etc. Because the needle is very small, there may be slight local swelling and pain similar to intramuscular injection, which will recover in 1 to 2 days and will not cause sequelae of low back pain in the future.

A recent prospective study did not demonstrate a significant association between epidural analgesia and postpartum back pain. Another study showed that the incidence of postpartum back pain in women who received epidural analgesia was almost the same as that in those who did not (44% vs. 45%).

Further data analysis showed that the occurrence of new back pain after childbirth was related to the mother's heavier weight and shorter stature. Similarly, another study showed no significant difference in long-term lower back pain in women who received an epidural for labor compared with a control group who did not use an epidural.