Mr.MacDonald,take it this way.Would it be impossible for you to sneeze if somebody tickled the insides of your nose with a cotton wisp just b'coz you are asleep.

Deep sedation obtunds the reflexes and usually suffices,but not always,as in your case.

There are other ways too to get it done apart from GA but then it would depend on the expertise and comfort of the anesthesiologist in providing regional anesthesia as it would on the setting where you want the dental work to be done and how desperate you are to avoid a general anesthetic.

Without any intention to complicate matters for you,I must admit that most anesthesiologists would prefer to get it done under GA.

All the best for your treatment.

three days prior to reading ur post,i had similar experience.had dural puncture with epidural catheter.she was elderly female for orif.i used it for intrathecal supplementation of 10mg bupivacain already given in subarachnoid space as original plan was a CSE.intraop i gave two top-ups of 5mg bupivacain each and post-op i gave 15microgram fentanyl for analgesia. there was no untoward effect and the patient is quite comfortable till date,so i suppose there is no harm in giving opiods intrathecally but dose has to b decided meticulously.