Different Types of Anesthesia

Different types of anesthesia

There are three main types of anesthesia, each with its uses and advantages, and disadvantages. These three types of anesthesia are:

General anesthesia, regional or local anesthesia, and Peripheral nerve block anesthesia.

This article from GOMEDIRAN will answer your questions:

1. What are the types of anesthesia?
2.  What is general anesthesia ?
3. Is general anesthesia dangerous?
4. What is local anesthesia?
5. What is Peripheral Nerve Block Anesthesia?
6. Is Peripheral Nerve Block Anesthesia dangerous?

1. What are the types of anesthesia?

There are three main types of anesthesia, each with its uses and advantages and disadvantages. These three types of anesthesia are General anesthesia, Regional or local anesthesia, and Peripheral nerve block anesthesia.

In general anesthesia, you are completely unconscious and unaware of the surgical procedure or other events. A variety of drugs may be administered for general anesthesia by inhaled gas through Bag-mask ventilation during intubation or intravenously.

In regional or local anesthesia, the anesthesiologist performs a spinal or epidural injection to induce anesthesia in an area of the body that requires surgery. During regional anesthesia, you may be awake or taking a sedative; In any case, you will not feel that you have undergone surgery. There are different types of area anesthesia, two of the most common of which are spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia.

In Peripheral nerve block anesthesia, the anesthetic is often injected into the tissue of a specific area of the body that requires minor surgery.

The type of anesthesia a person receives depends on the anesthesiologist’s opinion based on the patient’s medical condition, the patient’s opinion, and the surgeon’s opinion.

2. What is general anesthesia?

Your anesthesiologist will help you sleep and be painless until the end of surgery to prevent feeling pain during medical or plastic surgery. Your anesthesiologist will look after you throughout this time to ensure your heart, lungs, and kidneys are functioning properly.

First, a serum is attached to your hand to inject the necessary medications. Then the drugs that make you sleep are injected into you through this serum. From now on, you will not notice anything until the surgery is over and you wake up. The anesthesiologist may insert a tube into your airway that connects to the ventilator and helps keep enough oxygen and anesthetic gases from reaching your body and keeping you asleep. You will wake up after the surgery. Once you have regained the ability to breathe spontaneously, the breathing tube is removed, and you are taken to a recovery room or intensive care unit (ICU). The nurses in this ward will take care of you until you are fully conscious. During surgery, heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation and expiratory carbon dioxide levels are closely monitored by an anesthesiologist with the help of medical instruments.

3. Is general anesthesia dangerous?

Due to recent advances in technology and medicine, general anesthesia is relatively safe; however, in any method, there may be a series of risks and side effects that can be prevented, many of them. Suppose you have a history of some health disorders such as heart disease, lung disease, kidney disease, brain injury, and liver damage.

In that case, you should consult an anesthesiologist before doing the surgery. In addition, a history of previous blood transfusions, diabetes, hypertension (High blood pressure), jaundice, depression, or other physical or psychiatric problems should be reported to an anesthesiologist. Also, any history of previous anesthesia and how to react to it should be mentioned. Other points that should be reported to the anesthesiologist include: snoring while sleeping, the presence of dentures, loose, fallen, or orthodontic items, and taking any medication, even over-the-counter medications such as aspirin or various painkillers.

These drugs may interfere with anesthesia drugs or cause heavy bleeding during surgery. Tell your doctor if you are allergic to certain foods or medicines. This will help your doctor remove drugs that cause allergies in your body from the list of selected drugs. As an unwanted reaction to anesthetics may be inherited, tell your doctor if you have any family reactions to anesthetics. One of the possible complications is allergic reactions during surgery. You may be allergic to latex (a matter used in some medical items, including gloves) and iodine-containing.

Other complications of anesthesia that may occur after surgery include nausea and vomiting, which are usually controlled with antiemetic drugs. Because the body remains motionless during surgery, some parts of the body may be under abnormal pressure; in rare cases, nerve damage, skin ulcers, and visual impairment may occur. The location of the injury depends on the position of the person’s body during surgery. Everyone on the surgical team is careful to prevent these complications from occurring in the patient, so these cases are rare and preventable. If bleeding is much during surgery, the anesthesiologist may decide to transfuse blood after consulting a surgeon. Of course, blood transfusions are done only in necessary cases. Pre-transfusion blood is tested for blood-borne diseases such as hepatitis or AIDS, so it is unlikely that a person will have an unknown or known infection after a blood transfusion.

Note: Tell your anesthesiologist or surgeon if you do not want to do blood transfusions for religious or other reasons, even if your life is in danger. Because airway intubation may be needed during anesthesia, in which case the breathing tube enters the trachea through the mouth and throat, you may feel discomfort in your throat after anesthesia. In addition, damage to the lips, tongue, teeth, and vocal cords is a possible complication of endotracheal intubation, although the risk of these injuries is very low. Serum injection sites into the body may also rarely become infected in some people and may require warm compresses or antibiotics. The anesthesiologist is ready to treat the reaction to the medications used in the surgery room. Although much effort has been put into this, these reactions can be dangerous in very rare cases. Therefore, informing your anesthesiologist about all your known allergies is very important. Women should inform the anesthesiologist about the possibility of pregnancy; in terms of anesthesia and surgery, there is a need to consider some issues.

In short, general anesthesia is relatively safe, but there are potential risks and side effects, as mentioned. However, many complications can be prevented through proper communication between doctor and patient.

Be sure to tell your doctor and anesthesiologist about all previous diseases, medications, and history of anesthesia reactions. In general, with advances in anesthesiology, it is believed that general anesthesia by itself and without the accompaniment of risk factors does not make a major risk.

4. What is local anesthesia?

This type of anesthesia numbs a large part of the body, such as the lower half of the body. The anesthesiologist injects the medicine into the spinal canal or epidural space so that you do not feel pain. In this method of anesthesia, you are awake, but you may be prescribed sedatives to help you feel sleepy and less anxious.

This type of anesthesia is usually done in two ways:

1. Epidural anesthesia

Epidural anesthesia is more used in cases such as giving birth to prevent pain or orthopedic surgery on the foot. The anesthetist injects the anesthesia into the lower back, behind the spinal canal, and into the epidural space. This type of anesthesia causes the person to feel numb in the lower half of the body.

1. Spinal anesthesia

In spinal anesthesia, the anesthesia is injected directly into the spinal canal (not into the spinal cord). This type of anesthesia also numbs the lower body. This method is mostly used in hernia, prostate, or other operations on the lower half of the body.

5. What is Peripheral Nerve Block Anesthesia?

In this type of anesthesia, only the part of the injured body that is about to undergo special surgery is anesthetized. The person is awake during this type of anesthesia but does not feel pain. A syringe is used to inject the anesthesia under the skin in most cases. This type of anesthesia is mostly used to perform surgeries on the hands and feet.

6. Is Peripheral Nerve Block Anesthesia dangerous?

Types of anesthesia are not dangerous in themselves. Peripheral nerve block anesthesia or local anesthesia is the safest type of anesthesia. General anesthesia has more common side effects than other methods of anesthesia because it affects the whole body. Risks of anesthesia are rare and happen very rarely, but some of these risks include long-term nerve damage and temporary weakness of the relevant area.

The American Anesthesia Association reports that the side effects of anesthesia have dropped dramatically over the past 25 years.

Summary

There are three main types of anesthesia, each with its uses and advantages, and disadvantages. These three types of anesthesia are:

General anesthesia, regional or local anesthesia, and Peripheral nerve block anesthesia.

• In general anesthesia, you are completely anesthetized and have no awareness of the surgical procedure or anything else. Medications used for general anesthesia are given as inhaled gas or vapor through a respirator or airway tube or intravenously. Due to recent advances in technology and medicine, general anesthesia is relatively safe; however, there may be risks and side effects in any method. Complications of general anesthesia include allergies to anesthetic drugs; Sensitivity to latex; nausea and vomiting; Damage to nerves in an area of ​​the body; Skin wounds; Sore throat; Damage to lips, tongue, vocal cords, and teeth; Inflammation and infection of the serum injection site.
• In regional or local anesthesia, the anesthesiologist injects anesthesia into the nerves in the body area that needs surgery. There are different types of area anesthesia, two of the most common of which are spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia. Regional anesthesia is mostly used in hernia, prostate, or other lower half operations.
• The risks of peripheral nerve block anesthesia and area anesthesia are rare, and it happens very rarely, but some of these risks include long-term nerve damage and temporary weakness or paralysis of the relevant area.

The type of anesthesia a person receives depends on the anesthesiologist’s opinion based on the patient’s medical condition, the patient’s opinion, and the surgeon’s opinion.