In the practice of medicine, pain during surgery or other medical procedures can be prevented under anesthesia. Anesthesia simply means “loss of sensation with or without loss of consciousness”. In medical procedures, anesthetic is given to avoid patients from feeling pain. By all means, you don’t want to experience (consciously) any of pain during dissection or suture, right?
Here are FIVE FACTS ABOUT ANESTHESIA you shouldn’t miss! Read on, because your view of anesthesia is about to change!
- Anesthesia ≠ Unconsciousness
Being under anesthetic effect doesn’t always mean you are sent to “sleep”. Generally, there are three different types of anesthesia, and only ONE OF THEM that is capable to put you unconscious:
General Anesthesia
This is what many people think of when the word “anesthesia” passes their minds. How does it work? General anesthesia will put you to sleep during surgery. When you wake up, you’ll draw a blank memory while you’re under the knives. Typically used for surgeries in vital areas such as abdomen, chest, or brain, general anesthesia is also recommended if the doctors expect a long or complex surgery. General anesthesia can be given through vapors delivered by a breathing tube OR an IV (which requires a needle stick into a vein). After surgery, the anesthesiologist will reverse the anesthesia process to help you “wake up”.
Local Anesthesia
This involves anesthetizing a certain part of your body to stop the sense of pain during surgery or other minor outpatient procedures. It numbs only a small, specific area of your body and is usually given as a shot, spray or ointment. For example, dentist will anesthetize only the part of your mouth where you need an extraction. In this process, you will remain conscious until the surgery ends (YES, you can even spectate what happens to your body during surgery!). The numbing medicine may wear off in about 2 to 4 hours, helping to control discomfort after surgery.
Regional Anesthesia
In contrary with Local Anesthesia, this procedure targets only a portion of the body that will undergo surgery, such as an arm or leg, or below the waist. An anesthetic drug is injected near the spinal cord or cluster of nerves. The most common example is an epidural anesthesia, which blocks pain during labor and childbirth.
- Minor side effects
In few cases, some patients may experience side effects, such as nausea, a sore throat caused by breathing tube, or minor soreness at the injection site after waking up from anesthesia. Nevertheless, in general, anesthesia will not cause side effects to healthy patients. Side effects may vary, depending on the type of anesthesia you take in, your wellness, age, and how your body responds to the drug. The risk of experiencing side effects from anesthesia will increase if you’re consuming certain medicines, smoking, or a heavy drinker.
Although most anesthesia wears off quickly, you may still feel uncertain or have impaired judgment after surgery. Dr. Christopher Troianos, MD says that they usually ask the patients not to make any major life decisions for the first 24 hours after surgery (ps: NEVER propose to your girlfriend in that period!)
So, don’t hesitate to ask your doctor about the side effects and risks that may appear during and after anesthesia.
- Anesthesia is TOTALLY SAFE for you
According to Dr. Troianos, back in the 1960s and 1970s, it wasn’t uncommon to have a death related to anesthesia in each 1 in 10,000 or 20,000 patients. Nowadays, because of advances in both technology and medication, the number of death has reduced to 1 in every 200,000 patients.
Anesthesiologists use a pulse oximeter to ensure that you get enough oxygen during surgery. It helps to ensure the breathing tube used for general anesthesia goes into the trachea. Another thing anesthesiologists watch for is malignant hyperthermia. This is a rare reaction which causes high fever and can result in complications, even death to the patients. Anesthesiologists are now able to treat this better (thanks to better medication!).
- YES, you can wake up during surgery. But you don’t need to worry!
And YES, I bet the movie “AWAKE” passes your mind right now! As much as it scares you, waking up during surgery is exceedingly rare. And anesthesiologists use many strategies to prevent it.
In some cases, regaining consciousness during surgery will allow you to listen to what happens inside the Operation Room. Can you move? No, you can’t. Your body is still under anesthetic effect. Patients who have experienced this “accidental awareness” described it as an odd sensation, similar with being choked or paralyzed. They even underwent a near-death experience. However, “accidental awareness” will not occur for a long period. Most of patients reported they regained consciousness for less than 5 minutes (Phew!)
- If you are smoker, you may need more anesthesia
Anesthesiologists have long noticed that smokers and people exposed to secondhand smoke may require extra anesthesia when undergoing surgery. Preliminary research presented at “The 2015 European Society of Anesthesiology Meeting” in Belin, Germany found that female smokers required 38 percent more anesthesia than non-smokers; and 17 percent more than passive smokers. Cigarette smoke is known to mess up respiratory function while patient is under anesthesia. Another finding shows that both smoking groups required more painkiller medications after the surgery.
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References:
- https://health.clevelandclinic.org/safe-anesthesia-5-things-know/
- https://www.medicaldaily.com/general-anesthesia-8-interesting-facts-about-procedure-puts-you-sleep-356872
