A spinal anaesthetic is an injection of medication(s) (administered by an
anaesthetist doctor), into the fluid surrounding the lower spinal cord (called 'cerebrospinal fluid' or CSF). The injection is aimed at preventing the woman from feeling any pain sensations from her waist down to her toes, so that a Caesarean operation can be performed.
The first spinal anaesthetic was used in 1898 by a German surgeon called Augustus Bier. He injected cocaine into the spinal fluid of a man, stopping any pain sensations, while he operated on the man's ankle. In the years following, spinal anaesthetic became the first alternative anaesthetic method available to doctors to perform pain free operations, rather than using a
general anaesthetic. (In those days a general anaesthetic was given with ether, chloroform, nitrous oxide and / or cocaine. They worked but had the potential to produce severe side effects such as stopping the person's ability to breathe and altering the functioning of their heart).
The drugs used now for spinal anaesthetics for Caesarean births are medications usually derived from local anaesthetics, such as lidocaine (known as Xylocaine), bupivacaine (known as Marcaine) and ropivacaine, as well as narcotic drugs such as Fentanyl, Sufentanil and Morphine. Often a mixture of these drugs are used. At times a spinal anaesthetic will be used instead of, or in combination with an epidural anaesthetic. This is called a combined spinal / epidural or 'CSE'.
The statistics on the use of spinals Australia wide are not available. However, the NSW Department of Health does publish statistics of the use of spinal anaesthetics in New South Wales. The rates of women receiving spinals were 4.9% in 1999 and 6.1% in 2000.