Types Of Anesthesia That Doctors Use During Surgery

By Krystal Branch


Surgical procedures are always painless despite the number of hours they take. This is due to the various types of anesthesia used in the hospitals. They are drugs injected into the whole body, or that specific part undergoing the process. This makes it numb so that you do not have a sense of feeling as the procedure is undertaken.

When injected into the body either on human and animals, it stops or blocks sensations in that particular, small area or the entire body. There are some drugs that put a patient to sleep during the process, and they will remember and feel nothing. When a doctor chooses what to use, they base their assumption on the area and the time taken for the whole surgery to be completed. Your health history is also observed.

An example of these drugs used is the local anesthetic. It is administered to patients in a small part of their body where the surgical procedure is to be done. It is used when extracting a painful tooth by injecting it in the gums to kill the pain. These anesthetic options are used for outpatients needs and their effect lasts for a very little time. People who are experiencing this drug are always awake but some are given sedative if need be.

When the surgery is taking long, the general anesthetic chemicals are used to help the patient sleep heavily. And while asleep, you cannot feel any sensation or know what is happening to you. It stops a person memory from working. Mostly it is administered as IV, whereby patients inhale them as gases. They are also applied for surgeries that need one to be in an uncomfortable state.

While general anesthetics have many advantages, these drugs are not without side effects to your health. The good thing with them is that they very manageable. Taking alcohol as well as smoking can lead complications. The side effects that the patient is probably going to have depend on his body condition, medication types that they are on as blood thinning chemicals inside their body. Other complications, which are very rare, include lung cancer, heart failures and stroke.

Another category is the regional drugs. These drugs as suggested by the name, are applied to larger areas which require an operation especially where the local anesthetic will not work well. They are further subdivided into sections. They can be applied in the area surrounding nerves and it is preferred in parts around the limbs and face.

For those scheduled for C-section and abdomen operations, the spinal block is utilized in the injection process. They have a disadvantage of causing headaches and spinal aches. For those patients who have been injected on the face, they experience respiration difficulties.

A good doctor will recommend or use the best types of anesthesia on patients which have little effects on them. Different patients will react differently to these drugs. Some will experience fatigue while others will lose their memory easily.




About the Author: