Spinal anesthesia: Part I. History

Abstract

Spinal anesthesia is a fundamental type of regional anesthesia, very frequently used in clinical practice. In order to achieve the safe and widely known technique we use today, multiple events have happened throughout history. Numerous advances in anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, needle development and others, gave way to the first spinal anesthesia in 1898 and all the progress that has hence been made. Multiple discoveries and adaptations have been made since that moment, finally reaching the technique that is known and used nowadays.