anesthesia

The anesthesia is a form of anesthesia. General anesthesia is usually referred to as general anesthesia, a medication-induced medical coma to reduce awareness during operations. Sensation of pain and reflexes are exposed, the patient's suffering and disruptive muscle contractions are thereby alleviated. The anesthesia is carried out by a specialist in anesthesiology and a trained nurse.

What is anesthesia?

In contrast to local anesthesia, in which the pain relief only covers individual regions of the body, with general anesthesia the patient cannot be awakened until the anesthetic wears off.

The anesthesia blocks signals that travel to the brain through the entire body's nervous system. Anesthesia prevents the brain from fully aware of it. The electrical and chemical signals are not processed by this. The anesthetist will select the most successful method for anesthesia by examining the individual medical history (any allergies).

The type of drug administration can vary, and a combination of several methods is also common. Preparatory medication is administered about 45 minutes before the actual anesthesia. This improves the circumstances of the later proceedings. Through inhalation, injection, oral or rectal administration, the drug enters the bloodstream and can develop its effect there.

Usually, anesthesia is started by injection or inhalation. The injection leads to faster success (20-30 seconds) and fewer complications can arise. However, sometimes circumstances may call for an inhalation.

Function, effect & goals

The complete anesthesia is accompanied by the performing anesthetist. He ensures that there is an adequate supply of medication throughout the operation and that the patient remains in a state of unconsciousness.

In the meantime, he checks the heart rate, the oxygen saturation in the blood, the blood pressure, the temperature and the CO2 emissions. During the entire process, the normal reflexes and functions of breathing are reduced. Therefore, after the patient becomes unconscious, a breathing tube is inserted into the patient's throat to ensure adequate oxygen supply.

By medication of muscle blockers during certain operations, it can be achieved that the anesthesia is carried out less deeply. The blockers influence the muscle reactions and promote undisturbed intervention by the doctors.

After the first injection of anesthesia, the medication must be maintained, otherwise the patient will wake up from the coma on their own. This is done by means of the constant supply of a gas mixture via the lungs, or by additional injections via a cannula. After this supply stops, the level of the nerve blockers in the brain slowly drops and the patient wakes up from the anesthesia.

This process usually takes up to half an hour. Subsequently, the patient has partial amnesia and will not remember the course of the operation. In the first phase, there is often a slight physical tremor. A drug regimen to manage postoperative pain should be in place.

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Risks & dangers

A anesthesia has a number of common side effects. These are addressed in advance by the anesthetist, usually start shortly after the operation and do not last long. Up to 30 percent of patients complain of nausea and vomiting. This can last a few hours to a day.

An equal number of patients freeze from anesthesia and experience physical tremors on awakening. These effects should disappear after about 30 minutes. Confusion and memory loss are more common in the elderly, but should set in after a short time. A chest infection occurs occasionally after operations on the upper body and leads to breathing problems and fever attacks.

Bladder problems can occur and women may have difficulty holding urine. Only about 1 percent suffer minor nerve damage, which leads to numbness and can last for a few weeks. As a result of the incubation, patients often feel irritated lungs or injuries inside the mouth.

Serious consequences such as permanent nerve damage or serious allergic reactions to the anesthesia occur much less often (once in 10,000 anesthesia). Serious complications leading to death occur approximately once for every 100,000 anesthetics. These complications are more likely if the patient is in poor physical health due to obesity, heavy smoking, other illnesses or emergency surgery.