Anesthesiology
Anesthesiology is the practice of medicine dedicated to the relief of pain and total care of surgical patients before, during and after surgery.
Anesthesiologists and their teams work with each patient to make sure their pain is managed safely.
Anesthesia Care Team
When you require anesthesia services, you will be treated by an expert care team. The team is led by a medical doctor, known as an anesthesiologist, and includes highly specialized nurses, known as nurse anesthetists. Additional members of the care team will vary depending on what type of procedure you are having.
Before surgery, an anesthesiologist will meet with you and evaluate your medical condition and formulate an anesthetic plan that is right for you.
During surgery, advanced technology is used to monitor your body's functions, and your anesthesiologist must interpret these sophisticated monitors in order to diagnose, regulate and treat you while medications are administered.
After surgery, your anesthesiologist will reverse the effects of the anesthetic medications you receive, and return you to consciousness once again.
Types of Anesthesia
There are three main categories of anesthesia used in surgery and medical procedures. They are: general, regional and local.
- In general anesthesia, you are unconscious and have no awareness or sensations. There are a number of general anesthetic drugs. Some are gases or vapors inhaled through a breathing mask or tube and others are medications introduced through a vein.
- In regional anesthesia, your anesthesiologist makes an injection near a cluster of nerves to numb the area of your body that requires surgery. You may remain awake or be given a sedative. Either way, you do not feel the surgery taking place. There are several kinds of regional anesthesia; the two most common are spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia.
- In local anesthesia, the anesthetic drug is usually injected into the tissue to numb just the location of your body requiring minor surgery or a procedure.
