Our aim was to estimate the amount of anaesthetic drug wastage during spinal anaesthesia in the operation room of a tertiary hospital and suggest ways of reducing such wastage. The study is a retrospective survey conducted using the anaesthesia records. Drug wastage was considered as the amount of drug left unutilized in the vials after completion of a procedure. An estimation of the cost of wasted drug was made. There was wastage of heavy bupivacaine and lignocaine. Maximal wastage was associated with lignocaine. An equivalent of (89.9%) of lignocaine was wasted against 35.6% of prescribed bupivacaine. The cost of the wasted drugs for the duration was 121800 and 127820 Naira respectively for the period. Drug wastage and financial loss occurred during spinal anaesthesia. Gender contributed to the loss. Reduction in the amount of drugs in the vials would be prudent.

Key words: Bupivacaine, lignocaine, drug wastage, subarachnoid block.