Differential block—Since local anesthetics are capable of blocking all nerves, their actions are not limited to the desired loss of sensation from sites of noxious (painful) stimuli. With central neuraxial techniques (spinal or epidural), motor paralysis may impair respiratory activity, and autonomic nerve blockade may promote hypotension. Further, while motor paralysis may be desirable during surgery, it may be a disadvantage in other settings. For example, motor weakness occurring as a consequence of epidural anesthesia during obstetrical labor may limit the ability of the patient to bear down (ie, “push”) during delivery. Similarly, when used for postoperative analgesia, weakness may hamper ability to ambulate without assistance and pose a risk of falling, while residual autonomic blockade may interfere with bladder function, resulting in urinary retention and the need for bladder catheterization. These issues are particularly problematic in the setting of ambulatory (same-day) surgery, which represents an ever-increasing percentage of surgical caseloads.
2.
Intrinsic susceptibility of nerve fibers—Nerve fibers differ significantly in their susceptibility to local anesthetic blockade. It has been traditionally taught, and still often cited, that local anesthetics preferentially block smaller diameter fibers first because the distance over which such fibers can passively propagate an electrical impulse is shorter. However, a variable proportion of large fibers are blocked prior to the disappearance of the small fiber component of the compound action potential. Most notably, myelinated nerves tend to be blocked before unmyelinated nerves of the same diameter. For example, preganglionic B fibers are blocked before the smaller unmyelinated C fibers involved in pain transmission (Table 26–3).
Another important factor underlying differential block derives from the stateand use-dependent mechanism of action of local anesthetics. Blockade by these drugs is more marked at higher frequencies of depolarization. Sensory (pain) fibers have a high firing rate and relatively long action potential duration. Motor fibers fire at a slower rate and have a shorter action potential duration. As type A delta and C fibers participate in high-frequency pain transmission, this characteristic may favor blockade of these fibers earlier and with lower concentrations of local anesthetics. The potential impact of such effects mandates cautious interpretation of non-physiologic experiments evaluating intrinsic susceptibility of nerves to conduction block by local anesthetics.
3. Anatomic arrangement—In addition to the effect of intrinsic vulnerability to local anesthetic block, the anatomic organization of the peripheral nerve bundle may impact the onset and susceptibility of its components. As one would predict based on the necessity of having proximal sensory fibers join the nerve trunk last, the core will contain sensory fibers innervating the most distal sites. Anesthetic placed outside the nerve bundle will thus reach and anesthetize the proximal fibers located at the outer portion of the bundle first, and sensory block will occur in sequence from proximal to distal.
Local anesthetics can provide highly effective analgesia in well-defined regions of the body. The usual routes of administration include topical application (eg, nasal mucosa, wound [incision site] margins), injection in the vicinity of peripheral nerve endings (perineural infiltration) and major nerve trunks (blocks), and injection into the epidural or subarachnoid spaces surrounding the spinal cord (Figure 26–4).
TABLE 26–3 Relative size and susceptibility of different types of nerve fibers to local anesthetics.