Current issues in spinal anesthesia.

SPINAL anesthesia has enjoyed a long history of success and recently celebrated a centennial anniversary. Anesthesiologists master spinal anesthesia early during training with achievement of competence (. 90% technical success rate) after only 40–70 supervised attempts. The ease and long history of spinal anesthesia may give the impression that it is a simple technique with little sophistication. However, much has been learned recently regarding the anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, and applications of spinal anesthesia. This review article focuses on what is new, interesting, and clinically relevant for this simple and popular technique.