Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Assessing Changes in Volatile General Anesthetic Sensitivity of Mice after Local or Systemic Pharmacological Intervention
Published on: October 16, 2013
The performance of spinal anesthesia is marginally more difficult in the elderly
M J Tessler1, K Kardash, R M Wahba
1Department of Anaesthesia, The Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital, and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Background And Objectives:
We sought to determine if spinal anesthesia is more difficult to perform in the elderly.
Methods:
All spinal anesthetics administered over 18 months by 18 anesthesiologists were eligible. We excluded anesthetics for hip fractures and cesarean deliveries. We recorded time to completion, number of spinal needles used, and number of approaches. The patients were prospectively divided into three age categories: patients <50 years of age (group 1); 50-70 years of age (group 2); and >70 years of age (group 3). Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were performed.
Results:
Nine hundred and ninety-nine anesthetics were analyzed. There were 368, 336, and 295 entries in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Although the mean +/- SD (in min) times to accomplish the spinal technique were not significantly different (4.3 +/- 4.1, 4.4 +/- 3.2, and 4.6 +/- 3.4 for groups 1, 2, and 3), there was a statistically greater frequency of more than one spinal needle used and more than one approach needed in the elderly.
Conclusions:
We conclude that patient age is a minor independent predictor of increased technical difficulty with spinal anesthesia.
Related Concept Videos
Depolarizing Blockers: Pharmocokinetics
Skeletal Muscle Relaxants: Adverse Effects
Unlike...
Skeletal Muscle Relaxants: Therapeutic Uses
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Spinal Anesthesia
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Epidural Anesthesia
Since epidural anesthetics can be infused through an epidural catheter, all types of drugs, including short-acting ones, can be administered. Chloroprocaine and lidocaine are examples of short and long-duration anesthetics, respectively. Bupivacaine...
Parenteral Anesthetics: Overview

