Delivery techniques include topical administration, infiltration, ring blocks, peripheral nerve blocks, and neuraxial (spinal, epidural, or caudal) blocks. The small, unmyelinated nerve fibers that conduct impulses for pain, temperature, and autonomic activity are most sensitive to the action of local anesthetics. Structurally, local anesthetics have fundamental features in common. These include a lipophilic group, joined by an amide or ester linkage to a carbon chain, which in turn, is joined to a hydrophilic group. The most widely used of the local anesthetic compounds are bupivacaine, lidocaine, mepivacaine, procaine , ropivacaine, and tetracaine. Of these, lidocaine is probably the most commonly used. Bupivacaine is noted for its cardiotoxicity. Mepivacaine should not be used in obstetric anesthesia due to its increased toxicity to the neonate.