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Anesthesia
What is anesthesia?
It is derived from the word "anaisthesis," which means insensibility in Latin. It is the elimination of unpleasant sensations such as pain, pressure and pulling during a surgical operation.
Who administers anesthesia?
All anesthesia procedures can be performed by medical doctors who hold a specialty certificate in this field. During procedures, anesthesiologists are accompanied by auxiliary health personnel trained in anesthesia (anesthesia technicians, who are vocational college graduates).
Who monitors a patient under anesthesia?
Monitoring of the patient under anesthesia during the surgical procedure is the responsibility of the anesthesiology and reanimation specialist.
How many types of anesthesia are there?
Anesthesia procedures can basically be divided into two main groups: general anesthesia and regional anesthesia. A complete state of "sleep," in which the patient's consciousness is completely switched off, is provided by general anesthesia. Numbing only a certain part of the body is called regional anesthesia.
How is general anesthesia administered?
General anesthesia is commonly called "going to sleep." In fact, it is the switching off of the patient's consciousness using various drugs. An airway device is placed to keep the patient's breathing under control, and the patient is connected to a ventilator. During this time, vital signs are monitored.
How is regional anesthesia administered?
Numbing only a certain part of the body is called regional anesthesia. It can be described under two main headings: central block (epidural/spinal) procedures, in which the nerves within the spine are numbed below a certain level, and peripheral nerve block procedures, in which a single nerve is numbed with the guidance of a nerve stimulator or ultrasonography.
Why must one come to the operating room without eating or drinking?
Patients are asked to come to surgery without having eaten or drunk anything. Once anesthesia begins, if there is food in the patient's stomach, it can come up the esophagus and pass into the lungs through the windpipe. This can be life-threatening because of inadequate oxygen intake in the short term and the likelihood of developing pneumonia in the long term.
Adult patients should not eat solid food for 8 hours before surgery. They may drink clear liquids until 2 hours before surgery (excluding milk, carbonated drinks and soup). Medications recommended before surgery may be taken with a sip of water up to 1 hour before.
How long should breastfed babies fast?
Babies fed with breast milk can have breast milk until 4 hours before surgery.
Why is it necessary to be examined by your anesthesiologist before surgery?
The anesthesiologist examines the patient who is going to have surgery and, if necessary, arranges for opinions from the relevant departments. They answer questions. As a result of the examinations, they choose the anesthesia method suitable for the patient and inform the patient about it.
When can the patient eat after anesthesia?
Unless the operating surgeon says otherwise, a patient who has had anesthesia can begin taking clear liquids (water first) two hours later.
Is it possible for the patient to feel pain during surgery?
Thanks to modern anesthesia techniques and monitoring methods, this is now encountered very rarely. The anesthesiologist who monitors the patient throughout the surgery can adjust the depth of anesthesia.
How is it decided which anesthesia is suitable for which surgery?
Surgical procedures are carried out as teamwork. Many parameters such as the type and duration of the surgery and the patient's additional diseases, physical condition and age are evaluated, and the anesthesia method is determined after the patient's consent for the procedures has been obtained.
Can children have anesthesia?
Yes. If a surgical procedure is needed in a patient of any age group, anesthesia can be administered as well.
For how long can anesthesia be given, and could surgeries be interrupted midway?
Anesthesia is given throughout the surgery. The duration of the surgery determines the duration of anesthesia, and anesthesia is uninterrupted except for unexpected situations that threaten the patient's life.
What can be done to overcome nervousness about surgery?
Before surgery, each of our patients feels a certain amount of stress, worry and nervousness. If you share these feelings with your anesthesiologist, who routinely visits you before surgery, you can be helped to relax, if deemed appropriate, with medications that ease your anxiety.
Does the patient have to see the surgical site during regional anesthesia?
This question is the reason many patients avoid regional anesthesia; however, even if our patients wish to, they cannot directly see the surgical field because it must remain sterile. Along with regional anesthesia, sedative medications are given to prevent our patients from feeling worry and stress.
What should be paid attention to after day surgery?
After day-surgery anesthesia, a companion must be present when the patient is discharged. Even if the patient feels very well, it is not right for them to drive.
Since nausea and vomiting may occur, it is important to keep meals small. In case of even the slightest problem, it is very important to go to the nearest health center.
What is patient-controlled analgesia (a pain pump)?
A pain pump is a machine that contains a painkiller at a dose set by the anesthesiologist and allows the patient to receive the set dose of the drug each time they press the button. Since these doses are determined by taking variables such as the patient's weight and the type of surgery into account, there is no risk of overdose.
Is the morphine given for your pain after surgery addictive?
It has been shown that dependence does not develop in patients who are given morphine intravenously for as long as they feel pain. Absence of pain in the post-operative period speeds up the patient's mobilization and helps them meet their basic needs. At the same time, lung problems are seen less, especially in patients who have had general anesthesia. In patients with a dependence problem, pain treatment is given using other groups of drugs.
In what areas outside the operating room is anesthesia used?
Anesthesia is given during computed tomography of children and adults and magnetic resonance imaging in radiology, electroconvulsive therapy in psychiatry, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in urology, cardioversion in the coronary intensive care unit, colonoscopy and endoscopy in the gastroenterology department, and fiberoptic bronchoscopy in pediatric chest diseases.
For information only; consult your doctor.