Editing Local anesthetic (section)

====Risks====
The risk of temporary or permanent nerve damage varies between different locations and types of [[nerve block]]s.<ref name="RoyalCol">{{Cite journal|journal=Risks Associated with Your Anesthetic|title=Nerve damage associated with peripheral nerve block|volume=Section 12|date=January 2006|url=http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/docs/nerve-peripheral.pdf|access-date=2007-10-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009110706/http://www.rcoa.ac.uk/docs/nerve-peripheral.pdf|archive-date=2007-10-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>

There is risk of accidental damage to local blood vessels during injection of the local anesthetic solution. This is referred to as [[Hematoma|haematoma]] and could result in pain, [[trismus]], swelling and/or discolouration of the region. The density of tissues surrounding the injured vessels is an important factor for haematoma. There is greatest chance of this occurring in a posterior superior alveolar nerve block or in a pterygomandibular block.{{citation needed|date=February 2022}}

Giving local anesthesia to patients with liver disease can have significant consequences. Thorough evaluation of the disease should be carried out to assess potential risk to the patient as in significant liver dysfunction, the half-life of amide local anesthetic agents may be drastically increased thus increasing the risk of overdose.

Local anesthetics and vasoconstrictors may be administered to pregnant patients however it is very important to be extra cautious when giving a pregnant patient any type of drug. Lidocaine can be safely used but bupivacaine and mepivacaine should be avoided.  Consultation with the obstetrician is vital before administering any type of local anesthetic to a pregnant patient.<ref name="P. 2016"/>