Why is my doctor giving me a spinal block/epidural when i'm about to have foot surgery?

Ask your doctor: I do this on patients who can not tolerate general anesthesia too well or are at high risk. It is indicated for foot surgery. All of the nerves of your feet have roots in your back. A epidural block, blocks these nerves. However, ask your doctor why they prefer this over other anesthesia including conscious sedation or general. They can answer this better for you.

Regional anesthesia: There are different techniques that may be used to anesthetize you for podiatry surgery. The technique chosen will depend on co-morbidities, location of surgery, post operative analgesia and patient request. A spinal or epidural may be used if you will be hospitalized. You may opt for a popliteal block or mayo field block if you are having ambulatory surgery.

Anesthesia: Sometimes it depends on the surgeon's training and what he/she feels comfortable doing. It also depends on the type of surgery being done . These are questions to ask your surgeon