Guidelines for Health Practitioners Administering Local Anaesthesia
Local anaesthesia:
- Describes reduction or elimination of pain achieved by drugs acting locally to interfere with nerve conduction
- May be administered:
- Topically
- By injection at the:
- Field
- Peripheral nerve
Patient assessment is:
- Identical to standard pre-operative assessment
- Aims to identify patients at risk of compromise to:
- CVS
- Respiratory
- Airway
Equipment and Facilities
The location should have:
- Equipment to maintain basic life support until specialised help is available
- A means to summon help
The location may have:
- Adequate room for resuscitation
- Appropriate lighting
- Oxygen supply and means of administration
- A means of inflating the lungs with oxygen
- A means to measuring blood pressure
Technique
- Principal monitoring will be observation and communication with the patient
- Other monitors may be required if clinically indicated
- Practitioners administered local anaesthesia should be trained in the:
- Dosing
- Use and appropriateness of additives
- Management of copmlications