How is regional anesthesia typically administered?

Regional anesthesia is typically administered by injecting anesthetic agents near nerves. This technique involves the targeted delivery of anesthetic medications to specific areas of the body, effectively blocking sensation in a particular region. For example, a common form of regional anesthesia is the spinal block, where anesthetic is injected into the cerebrospinal fluid around the spinal cord, or a peripheral nerve block, where the anesthetic is administered near individual nerves to numb a specific limb or area for surgeries.

In contrast, inhaling anesthetic gases primarily relates to general anesthesia, which affects the entire body and consciousness, and is not specific to localized areas. Applying anesthetics on the skin may provide surface-level analgesia but does not achieve the same depth of anesthesia or specific nerve block that regional techniques do. Administering fluids intravenously is a method of providing hydration and medications but is unrelated to the provision of anesthetic effects. Therefore, the injection of anesthetic agents near nerves is a key component in successfully implementing regional anesthesia techniques, making it the correct approach in this context.