WordNet
n. loss of sensation in a small area of the body (as when a local anesthetic is injected for a tooth extraction) [syn: local anaesthesia]
Wikipedia
Local anesthesia is any technique to induce the absence of sensation in a specific part of the body, generally for the aim of inducing local analgesia, that is, local insensitivity to pain, although other local senses may be affected as well. It allows patients to undergo surgical and dental procedures with reduced pain and distress. In many situations, such as cesarean section, it is safer and therefore superior to general anesthesia. It is also used for relief of non-surgical pain and to enable diagnosis of the cause of some chronic pain conditions. Anesthetists sometimes combine both general and local anesthesia techniques.
The following terms are often used interchangeably:
- Local anesthesia, in a strict sense, is anesthesia of a small part of the body such as a tooth or an area of skin.
- Regional anesthesia is aimed at anesthetizing a larger part of the body such as a leg or arm.
- Conduction anesthesia is a comprehensive term, which encompasses a great variety of local and regional anesthetic techniques.
Usage examples of "local anesthesia".
He'd had local anesthesia for multiple dental procedures with no problems.
I think maybe you should have insisted on local anesthesia like I did.
There were local anesthesia IVs every hundred square centimeters or so.
With technology so advanced and local anesthesia so effective, you will 'feel only the pressure of the biochip inserter.
The latter was difficult because the horse, despite the successful local anesthesia, danced around from the odd pulling sensation.