Local anesthetic

Medications to reversibly block pain

A local anesthetic (LA) is a medication that causes absence of all sensation (including pain) in a specific body part without loss of consciousness, providing local anesthesia, as opposed to a general anesthetic, which eliminates all sensation in the entire body and causes unconsciousness. Local anesthetics are most commonly used to eliminate pain during or after surgery. During local anesthesia, pain and temperature are the first senses to disappear, while pressure and motor function are the last to go.When it is used on specific nerve pathways (local anesthetic nerve block), paralysis (loss of muscle function) also can be induced.

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