By self-experimentation he developed (1885) conduction, or block, anesthesia (the production of insensibility of a part by interrupting the conduction of a sensory nerve leading to that region of the body), brought about by injecting cocaine into nerve trunks. He fell into a drug addiction that required two years to…

…to produce what is called regional nerve block anesthesia. In this situation, conduction in both motor and sensory fibres is blocked, enabling procedures to be carried out on a limb while the patient remains conscious. A special form of regional nerve block may be achieved by injecting a local anesthetic…

…agents work by preventing the conduction of nerve impulses. Their actions are limited to nervous tissue located near the injection site, because of their ability to diffuse only short distances. Therefore, local anesthetics numb only an isolated part of the body and allow the woman to retain consciousness, lucidity, and…