[Is spinal anesthesia for operations in the prone or jackknife position suitable?]

There is still controversy on the usefulness of spinal anesthesia for operations performed in the prone or jackknife position. There is about the risk of inadvertent increase of the sensomotory blockade with the patient in the prone position and the difficulty of managing consecutive cardiorespiratory complications or inducing general anesthesia in case of failures. This article reviews the current literature in terms of safety and effectiveness of spinal anesthesia for such operations. For lower-limb or perianal operations with limited extension and blood loss, performed in the prone position, spinal anesthesia seems to be a safe, effective and economic technique in patients without severe a cardiac history. Substantial knowledge about the onset time, fixation time, duration of sensomotory block and baricity of the applied local anesthetic is crucial in this setting. Obese patients are at risk for sudden extension of the block when turned into the prone position. Additional narcotics and sedatives should be avoided and continuous monitoring of hemodynamic and respiratory parameters, of the level of the blockade and vigilance of the patient is mandatory.