General anesthesia, popularly referred to as "general anesthesia", performs a very important medical function - anesthesia during surgery. It is thanks to anesthesia that the patient undergoes surgery without pain, which prolongs his life.
General anesthesia. What is it and what is the purpose of its use
At its core, anesthesia is a very deep sleep, which is artificially caused by a special drug. By its properties, such a dream is very similar to biological.
Of several types of anesthesia, general anesthesia is one of the most difficult. Compared with other types of anesthesia, general anesthesia has one main difference: when using it, not only the organs are anesthetized, but the patient’s consciousness also turns off.
Using general anesthesia provides analgesia, amnesia and relaxation. During general anesthesia, the patient relaxes all the muscles of the body, in addition, he does not feel pain and does not remember the operation process.
In this case, all sensitivities are disabled, for example, pain, temperature, and many others.
That is, the main task of general anesthesia is to introduce a person into a state in which he cannot move, feel the surgeon’s surgical intervention and receive any emotions from the operation.
Types of anesthesia
General anesthesia is divided into 3 types, depending on the route of administration of anesthetics (anesthetics). Anesthetics can be injected into the patient's body by inhalation (using a face mask), intravenous (using a catheter), and in a combined way.
If a short-term (up to 30 minutes) operation is performed, there is no risk that the gastric contents will get into the lungs (aspiration), and at the same time the patient maintains normal breathing, an additional device that ensures airway patency will not be needed. In this case, you can use such types of anesthesia as mask or intravenous.
If the patient has breathing problems during anesthesia or there is a risk of aspiration, the anesthesiologist uses a special device to ensure airway obstruction and protect the lungs from aspiration. In this situation, general anesthesia is called intubation. Under such circumstances, antiseptics can be introduced into the patient's body both by inhalation, intravenous, and combined.
How do general anesthesia
Regardless of the chosen route of administration, the anesthetist performs the same procedure. He or his assistant punctures a peripheral vein, for example, on the forearm or hands, and inserts a special plastic catheter (such as a butterfly or vasofix) into it. Then the doctor attaches a special clip to the finger that monitors the patient's breathing. After that, the anesthesiologist puts on a shoulder a special cuff, with which blood pressure is measured, and attaches special electrodes to the chest, thanks to which he monitors the patient's heartbeat. After connecting everything you need, you can begin to enter general anesthesia.
What it is? Why is this cardiopulmonary monitoring necessary? Namely, in order to be able to continuously monitor the work of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, constantly monitoring the patient's condition.
Only after complete monitoring of heart and respiration performance indicators is opened, a catheter is inserted, which gives access to administer the medicine, and the drugs are drawn into syringes, does the anesthesiologist begin to anesthetize the body with a specific type of anesthesia.
How much do they leave from general anesthesia
It is not so easy to say how long the patient will be able to recover from anesthesia. It all depends on some points, for example, on the type and duration of the operation, on the type and dosage of anesthesia and various other indicators.
Awakening from general anesthesia sometimes takes several minutes, and sometimes several hours. Basically, after the operation is completed, the doctor wakes up the patient while still in the operating room, but the patient regains consciousness only after some time.
Medicines for general anesthesia
Choose drugs for anesthesia, depending on what method the anesthetic will enter the body. If the inhalation method is used and the patient inhales vapors or gases through an endotracheal tube or a special mask, drugs such as diethyl ether, diazota oxide, isoflurane, enflurane or fluorotan can be used.
Non-inhalation methods may be intravenous, introintestinal, intramuscular or oral. For pediatric anesthesia, the last 3 methods are most often used.
Non-inhalation anesthetics may include drugs such as Propofol, Altezin, Propanidid, Ketamine, Viadril, sodium hydroxybutyrate and various barbiturators, such as thiopental sodium or Hexenal.
Which drug will be administered to a particular patient can be clarified with the anesthetist who will select the drug by doing general anesthesia. “What is it, how much time will be spent on rehabilitation, and what are the side effects of the drug” - all these questions can be asked without hesitation to ask a doctor who is obliged to answer them.
Side effects of general anesthesia
Of course, general anesthesia does not pass without a trace, it leaves behind both side effects and some kind of complications. General anesthesia during surgery portends after its use symptoms such as:
- headache and dizziness;
- nausea and vomiting;
- retardation of thinking;
- confusion ;
- hallucinations;
- sleep disturbance;
muscle pain
- numbness of the limbs;
- chills;
- itching;
- speech impairment;
- hearing impairment;
- a sore throat.
Similar symptoms last for a period while a person moves away from anesthesia, less often unpleasant consequences can be felt for two days.
Some effects of anesthesia
Also, after anesthesia, some complications or allergic reactions may occur. From the cardiovascular system, cardiac arrest can be observed. From the respiratory system - pulmonary infection or respiratory depression. From the side of the nervous system - in certain areas a violation of sensitivity.
The main thing is, if you encounter any incomprehensible symptoms, consult your doctor in time. This will help to avoid serious postoperative consequences and recover faster.
Often patients are afraid of the term “general anesthesia” alone. What is it - you already learned that anesthesia is not something terrible, it is just an auxiliary action during the operation, and if used correctly, the harm from anesthesia is minimal, any anesthetist can confirm it.