Anesthesiology
Anesthesiology, or anesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, and pain medicine.
Types of Anesthestics
- Local anaesthesia: Local anaesthesia is administered when only a small section of the body needs numbing—for example, cataract surgery, a dental procedure or a skin biopsy. The patient is kept awake during the procedure. The effect of anesthesia wears off within 3-4 hours of injection.
- Regional anaesthesia: Regional anaesthesia numbs a larger part of the body. This includes the limb or the entire body below the chest. Patients sometimes have a choice of staying awake during the procedure or sleeping through sedation in addition to the regional anesthetic.
- General anaesthesia: General anaesthesia provides absolute unconsciousness and makes the patient insensitive to pain or any other stimuli. It is administered to perform highly invasive procedures such as on the brain, heart or abdomen.
- Sedation: Sedation helps patients relax and puts them to sleep. However, they can be easily aroused or awakened once the procedure is completed. Light sedation is often prescribed by the anesthetist, surgeon performing the surgery, and nurse. However, deep sedation requires training