Under general anesthesia we are guided by careful monitoring of your vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate. Increases in the preceding signs would indicate light anesthesia and the dose would be increased. The careful balance of drug dose to level of stimulus allows for more rapid emergence at the end of the procedure. The doses of local anesthetics in spinal or epidural blocks are guided in part by the height of the patient. For many nerve blocks the dose is guided by body weight.
