It is valid to assert that modern surgery is made possible due to the use of effective and safe anesthesia. Without anesthesia, it is impossible to have a completely painless surgery. There are different types of anesthesia that are administered during surgery and there are several factors to be considered before the anesthesiologist administers it. Your personal medical history, the type of surgery you are undergoing, and the surgeon’s and your anesthesiologist’s preferences are taken into account while choosing the right type of anesthesia to be administered.
Irrespective of the type of anesthesia being administered, the anesthesiologist will monitor you closely, including your breathing and blood oxygen level, heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, and electrocardiogram (EKG). The different types of anesthesia are as follows:
General anesthesia
Administering general anesthesia involves the use of medications that make the patient unconscious (asleep) and makes them numb so that they won’t feel any pain throughout the surgical process. Some of these medications are given via an intravenous therapy (IV), whereas others are administered in the form of gases through a breathing mask or tube with oxygen. General anesthesia is the most common type of anesthesia that is used for a majority of surgical processes. However, general anesthesia does have certain side-effects like nausea, vomiting, sore throat, shivering, muscle aches, and confusion.
Regional anesthesia
Regional anesthesia includes epidural, spinal, and nerve block anesthesia, and s the name indicates, it entails injecting the local anesthesia near the nerves to numb the particular part of the body. After being administered regional anesthesia, the patient can be awake, sedated, or simply put to sleep for the entire surgical procedure.
Epidural anesthesia involves injecting local anesthesia with a narcotic into the epidural space through a needle or a catheter. This type of anesthesia is usually used for labor and delivery and for procedures that involve the lower extremities.
Spinal anesthesia involves the injection of local anesthesia with or without a narcotic into the fluid that surrounds the spinal cord. This type of anesthesia is used for genitourinary procedures, cesarean sections, and procedures of lower extremities.
Nerve blockers work by blocking pain at specific sites. Here, a local anesthetic is injected into or around a specific nerve or group of nerves and the pain relief is localized to the site of pain. This type of anesthesia has minimum side-effects and helps in controlling pain before and after the surgery.
Combined general with epidural anesthesia
This technique is a combination that puts the patient to sleep and offers pain control not just during the procedure but even after that. The placement of the epidural catheter allows the patient to have continued pain relief even after the surgery and it helps them sleep and move comfortably. Such anesthesia is used for major abdominal and thoracic procedures. There are instances when the epidural catheter may be left in place for several days even after the surgery.
Monitored anesthesia care with conscious sedation
This form of anesthesia involves the injection of medications through an IV catheter to help the patient relax and blocks pain as well. It is a combination of sedative and narcotic medications and helps the patient tolerate the procedure which otherwise would have been uncomfortable. In addition to this, the surgeon can even inject a local anesthetic at the site of the procedure for controlling the pain in the particular area.
