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Types Of Anesthesia That Doctors Use During Surgery

By Krystal Branch


If you underwent any surgical procedure, you note that the process was not painful even if it took hours. This can be attributed to the different types of anesthesia used at the hospital. These are drugs administered into the body, or that particular part to numb the area so that you will not feel any sensation as the procedure is finished.

It is used on both human and animal body. When it is injected, it immediately stops sensations in that small area or the whole body, depending on where it has been applied. These drugs make a patient to sleep during the whole process. After it is done, they will wake up but remember feeling no pain. The doctors select what to use depending on the area and the time the surgery is likely to take. They also check ones health history.

One of these drugs used include local anesthetic. This drug is administered patients in a small region of your body where surgical procedure is performed. For example, during the extraction of a painful tooth, it will be injected in the gums only to stop or kill the pain. The unique thing about these anesthetic options is that they are used for outpatients needs, and they wear after a very short time. People injected with this are always awake. However, some patients are given sedative if need arises.

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.

Like any other drug, the general anesthetic has its side effects to your health. However, they are manageable. The complications will depend on the person lifestyle: for example, if they smoke or take alcohol. Also it is determined by ones body condition, and the type of medications they frequently use and blood thinning chemicals in their body. Other rare complications that have been observed include lung cancer, heart failures and stroke but it is uncommon for people to die after being administered with it.

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 who are to undergo abdomen operations and c-section, the spinal block is used in the injection process. However, these are known to cause headache and spinal aches. Some patients who have been injected face respiration depressions.

The doctor should recommend the types of anesthesia which they know will work well and have little side effects on the patient. It is important to understand that the body reacts to them differently. Others will experience it in ways like feeling fatigue and others will lose their memory shortly.




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