Anesthesia is a strategy used to prevent pain or any sensation during surgery or a painful procedure by administering medication by venous or inhalation.Anesthesia is usually performed in more invasive procedures or that can cause any type of discomfort or pain in the patient, such as the heart.surgery, childbirth or dental procedures, for example.
There are several types of anesthesia, which affect the nervous system in various ways by blocking nerve impulses, whose choice will depend on the type of medical procedure and the health of the person. It is important that your doctor is informed of any kind.chronic disease or allergy to indicate the best type of anesthesia without any risk.See what care they are before surgery.
- During general anesthesia.
- Anesthetic medications that deeply sediment the person are given.
- So that the surgery performed.
- Such as heart.
- Lung.
- Or abdominal surgery.
- Does not cause any pain or discomfort.
The medications used leave the person unconscious and cause insensitivity to pain, favoring muscle relaxation and causing amnesia, so everything that happens during surgery is forgotten by the patient.
The anesthetic can be injected into a vein, having an immediate effect, or inhaled through a gas-shaped mask, reaching the bloodstream through the lungs.The duration of its effect is variable, being determined by the anaesthetist, who decides how much anesthetic medicine to administer.Learn more about general anesthesia.
The most commonly used drugs in general anesthesia are: benzodiazepines, narcotics, sedatives and hypnotics, muscle relaxants and halogenated gases.
Although anesthesia is a very safe procedure, it can involve associated risks depending on certain factors, such as the type of surgery and the health of the person.The most common side effects are nausea, vomiting, headaches and allergies to anesthetic medications.
In more severe cases, complications such as shortness of breath, cardiac arrest or even neurological damage can occur in less healthy people due to malnutrition, heart, lung or kidney problems, for example.
Although very rare, anesthesia can have a partial effect, such as a withdrawal from consciousness but allowing the person to move or the person to be able to move but feeling the events around them.
Local anesthesia involves a very specific area of the body, does not affect consciousness and is usually used in minor surgeries such as dental procedures, eye, nose or throat surgery, or in conjunction with other anesthesia, such as regional anesthesia or sedation.
This type of anesthesia can be administered in two ways, by applying an anesthetic cream or spray to a small area of the skin or mucous membranes, or by injecting the anesthetic drug into anesthetic tissue.Lidocaine is the most common local anesthetic.
Local anesthesia, when used correctly, is safe and has almost no side effects, however, in high doses, it can have toxic effects, affecting the heart and breathing or committing brain function, as high doses can reach blood flow.
Regional anesthesia is used when only one part of the body, such as an arm or leg, needs to be anesthetized, for example, where there are several types of regional anesthesia:
In spinal anesthesia, the local anesthetic is administered with a thin needle, in the fluid that bathes the spinal cord, called cerebrospinal fluid In this type of anesthesia, the anesthetic is mixed with cerebrospinal fluid and comes into contact with nerves, resulting in loss of sensation in the lower extremities and lower abdomen.
Also known as epidural anesthesia, this procedure blocks pain and sensations from a single area of the body, usually from the waist down.
In this type of anesthesia, the local anesthetic is administered through a catheter that is placed in the epidural space around the spinal canal, resulting in a loss of sensation in the lower extremities and abdomen.Learn more about epidural anesthesia and its usefulness.
In this type of regional anesthesia, local anesthesia is administered around the nerves responsible for the sensitivity and movement of the limb where the surgery will be performed, and a variety of nerve blockers may be administered.
Groups of nerves, called plexuses or lymph nodes, which cause pain in a specific organ or area of the body, are blocked, resulting in anesthesia of areas of the body such as the face, nose, palate, neck, shoulders, arms., among others.
Intravenous anesthesia is a procedure in which a catheter is placed in a vein in a limb, so that local anesthesia is given, while a tourniquet is placed over the area so that the anesthesia stays in place, sensitivity is regained when the tourniquet is removed.
Regional anesthesia is usually used in simple surgical procedures such as normal delivery, in small surgeries such as gynecological or cosmetic surgeries or orthopedic surgeries, for example.
Learn how anesthesia eliminates pain from childbirth
Although rare, side effects such as excessive sweating, injection site infection, systemic toxicity, heart and lung problems, chills, fever, nerve damage, and a perforation of the membrane that protects the spinal cord, called a hard parent, can occur.Paraplegia.
Hard mother piercing can also trigger postspinal headaches within the first 24 hours or up to 5 days later.In these cases, the person experiences headache while sitting or standing and improves minutes after returning to bed, which may be associated with other symptoms such as nausea, stiff neck and decreased hearing.In many cases this headache goes away spontaneously within a week, but it may also be necessary to initiate a specific treatment indicated by the anaesthetist.
Sedation anesthesia is administered intravenously and is usually used in conjunction with regional or local anesthesia to increase the comfort of the person.
Sedation may be mild, in which the person is relaxed but awake, being able to answer questions from the doctor, moderate in which the person normally sleeps during the procedure, but can easily wake up by asking a question or at the bottom where the person sleeps throughout the procedure, without remembering what happened since he was given the anesthesia.Whether mild, moderate or profound, this type of anesthesia is accompanied by oxygen supplementation.
Although rare, allergic reactions, shortness of breath, changes in heart rate, nausea, vomiting, delirium, sweating and infection at the injection site can occur.