Anesthesia, Types of Anesthesia, Risks of Anesthesia, Medicines used to achieve Anesthesia

Medical Definition of Anesthesia 

Loss of sensation with or without loss of consciousness that is artificially produced by the administration of one or more agents that block the passage of pain impulses along nerve pathways to brain 

About Anesthesia


Anesthesia is the use of medicine to prevent or reduce the feeling of pain or sensation during painful procedure such as getting stitches or surgery. Anesthesia is given as an injection or through inhaled gases or vapour, different type of anesthesia effect the nervous system in various ways by blocking nerve impulses and, therefore pain. 

Anesthesiologist: An anesthesiologist is a doctor who specializes in given and managing anesthetics medicines that numb an area of the body or help a person fall asleep and stay asleep

An anesthesiologist administers medicine during surgery to help patients relax and fall asleep. The anesthesiologist is present during an operation to watch over patients and make sure they have no pain. They also may be consulted to help with pain management in patients with pain problems outside the operating room 

Types of Anesthesia

Anesthesia are divided into three categories this are 
  1. General 
  2. Regional 
  3. Local 
All these can be given through various ways using medicine that effect the nervous system.

The type of anesthesia used typically depends on the type of surgery, your state of health, length of the procedure, and the preference of your anesthesiologist and surgeon 

General Anesthesia

General anesthesia are typically given a combination of medication through a mask or IV. This will render a person temporarily unconscious. 
The goal is to make and keep a person completely unconscious or asleep during the operation, with no awareness or memory of the surgery. General anesthesia can be given through an IV. Which requires sticking a needle into vein, usually in the arm or by inhaling gases or vapors by breathing into a mask or tube 

Regional Anesthesia

Regional anesthesia is provided by injecting specific sites with a numbing medication. This may be done with a needle or via a flexible catheter line through which anesthetics and other medication can be administered as needed 
An anesthesia drug is injected near a cluster of nerves, numbing a larger area of the body such as bellow the waist, like epidurals given to women in labor. Regional anesthesia is generally used to make a person more comfortable during and after the surgical procedure. Regional and general anesthesia are often combined. 

Local Anesthesia

This type of anesthesia is typically used to numb a small site for minor procedure, such as filling a cavity or for a skin biopsy. During administration of local anesthesia, a numbing medication is either applied to the skin as a cream or spray, or injected into area where the procedure will be performed. 
With local anesthesia, a person is awake or sedated, depending on what is needed. Local anesthesia lasts for short period of time and it often used for minor outpatient procedures such as dentist and dermatologists. 

Risks 

Just as no surgery is risk free, no type of anesthesia is 100% safe either. However, risk increase as the level of anesthesia increase 

The main side effects are 
  • Nausea 
  • Vomiting
  • Soreness where the anesthetic was injected 
  • Bleeding around the spinal cord
  • Allergic reaction to the anesthesia used 
  • Difficulty urination 
  • Drop in blood pressure
  • Nerve damage 
  • Infection in spine 
  • Seizures
  • Severe headache 
Some of these side effects, such as nerve damage and seizures, are rare, but always talk to Doctor if you have concerns. 

Medicine

Anesthesiologist use variety of medication in their practice to keep patients safe, relaxed and pain-free for surgeries. These range from mild sedative for minor procedures to potent inhalational gases and muscle relaxant for major or lengthy surgeries. 

Common medication used in anesthesia are 

Analgesic (Pain Relievers)

An analgesic or painkiller is any member or group of drugs used to achieve analgesia, relief from pain. Analgesic drugs act in various ways on the peripheral and central nervous systems. This class of medication can be subdivided into a multitude of different categories based on how each type of drug works to accomplish this task. Some of medications commonly administered to achieve anesthesia include
  • Acetaminophen: This can be given as pill or injected through IV (Intravenous) line commonly used in combination with narcotic analgesic such as hydrocodone
  • Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDS): Sometimes anesthesiologist will use the NSAIDS ketorolac to help with postoperative pain. It is administrated either as an Intravenous or intramuscular injection 
  • Narcotics: This class of drugs are very potent pain relievers. These drugs can be administered by different modalities, including IV, oral or transdermal (skin patch) some commonly used narcotics to achieve analgesia include morphine, fentanyl, hydromorphone, merperidine, and oxycodone. 

Anxiolytics (Sedative)

Anxiolytics are medications that help to reduce or alleviate anxiety and relax the body. In higher doses, they can also be used to induce sleep. They may also cause anterograde amnesia, where the patient does not remember the events following the administration of the medication, typically for a few hours. Commonly used anxiolytics includes midazolam via injection. Midazolam can be given orally as liquid or nasal, as a spray, prior to procedure

Local Anesthesia

Local anesthesia can be injected or sprayed in a small region to create a localized area without sensation, or can be injected major nerves to decrease the sensation to entire limb. Benzocaine spray or lidocaine ointment is sometimes utilized to numb the mouth and throat for procedure. Lidocaine, mepivicaine, bupivicaine and ropivicaine are commonly used injection at surgical sites or for regional anesthesia

General Anesthesia

General anesthesia are medication generally cause anterograde amnesia, meaning that patient doesn't remember the event that follow their administration. This class of medications create amnesia for surgery these can be given either by IV injection or inhaled gas. 

IV agents includes Propofol, ketamine and Etomidate 

Inhalation gases includes Sevoflurane, Desflurane, Isoflurane 

Paralytics (Muscle Relaxants) 

Vecuronium, rocurinium and cisatracurium are longer acting paralytics used to maintain paralysis during longer surgery procedure. 




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