The usual surgical anesthesia modalities that are commonly used in clinical practice are local anesthesia (including local infiltration, intradural anesthesia and peripheral nerve blocks) and general anesthesia (tracheal intubation/mask general anesthesia and intravenous general anesthesia). Intraspinal anesthesia also includes subarachnoid blocks, epidural blocks, and sacral blocks. These blocks can be performed either as a single injection, intermittently via catheter or by continuous infusion. Intradural anesthesia has greatly expanded the range of techniques available to anesthesiologists, providing an alternative to general anesthesia when appropriate, both for combined application of general anesthesia and for postoperative analgesia and treatment of acute and chronic pain. In recent years, with the popularity of ultrasound technology, peripheral nerve blocks have been increasingly used in clinical practice, both as a basic anesthetic method to complete surgery, as an adjunct to general anesthesia, and as a preoperative implementation for postoperative analgesia. Although peripheral nerve blocks are not risk-free, they offer a new option for patients prone to postoperative nausea and vomiting, malignant hyperthermia, and those with hemodynamic compromise or who are too ill to tolerate general anesthesia.