Combined spinal and epidural anaesthesia

This technique is suitable whenever a rapid onset of analgesia is required but the period of analgesia required exceeds that of a single spinal injection. It may be used for Caesarean sections, seeking the advantage of using a minimal dose of local anaesthetic in order to have a quicker termination of the spinal anaesthesia, but still having the catheter available in case the patient requires more than the minimal amount of medication to remain comfortable. It was hoped that this technique for caesarean section would yield greater maternal satisfaction with less hypotension and its associated nausea, but it is not clear that the technique has many advantages.