Anesthesia: What It Is And How It Works

March 16, 2022

Before the invention of anesthesia, surgery was painful and traumatizing. Many suffered psychological trauma even if they survived. Before the 1840s there were only three options for pain relief: alcohol, opium and weak herbal remedies. There are many effective forms of anesthesia available today, but it all depends on what surgery is being done.

A typical anesthetic procedure uses one or more of the following drugs: a dissociative medicine, which blocks the signals from the nervous system from reaching your brain and causes memory Office based anesthesia impairment; a sedative which induces sleeplike or paralysis depending on the dosage; an analgesic also known as a painkiller. To counter side effects of anesthesia, other drugs can also be used. Analgesics like lidocaine can cause blood vessels to enlarge and increase bleeding. Therefore, vasoconstrictors such as epinephrine are often combined with pain-relief medication to contract the vessels.

Depending on the combination and dosage of anesthetic agents, one of these anesthetics can be produced: conscious sedation or regional anesthesia.

Some patients feel numb after having their cavities filled in a dental office. This is due to the dentist using a local anesthetic. This is where no dissociative or sedative is used, but a small amount may be used to prevent sleepiness or memory loss. For minor procedures, doctors prefer local anesthesia that is quick and will likely not cause complications.

Conscious sedation is when low-dose analgesics and low-dose sedatives/dissociatives are combined. While conscious sedation is not something that people remember, it can be used to help them speak and answer questions. Conscious sedation is used for certain types of cosmetic and dental surgery as well as LASIK eye and colon surgery.

Anesthesia that is more concentrated in a particular area of the body is called regional anesthesia. The nerves are blocked from sending pain signals to the brain and the entire body becomes numb. This is used for epidurals and nerve blocks that require powerful pain relief.

General anesthesia is required for major surgery. Patients are given high doses of each of the three types of medication. An anesthesiologist will first make the patient unconscious, then give them the necessary medications one by one. To ensure that the patient does not regain consciousness and feel any pain, it is important to closely monitor him or her. A breathing tube and catheter may be needed to support a patient receiving general anesthesia.