Before the invention of anesthesia, surgery was painfuland traumatizing. Manysuffered psychological trauma even if they survived. Before the 1840s there were only three options for painrelief: alcohol, opium and weak herbal remedies. There are many effective forms of anesthesia availabletoday, but it all depends on what surgery is being done.
A typical anesthetic procedure uses one or more of thefollowing drugs: a dissociative medicine, which blocks the signals from thenervous system from reaching your brain and causes memory impairment; asedative which induces sleeplike or paralysis depending on the dosage; ananalgesic also known as a painkiller. To counter side effects of anesthesia, other drugs can alsobe used. Analgesics like lidocaine cancause blood vessels to enlarge and increase bleeding. Therefore,vasoconstrictors such as epinephrine are often combined with pain-relief
medication to contract the vessels.
Depending on the combination and dosage of anestheticagents, one of these anesthetic agents can be produced: conscious sedation orregional anesthesia.
Some patients feel numb after having their cavitiesfilled in a dental office. This is due to the dentist using a local anesthetic. This is where no dissociativeor sedative is used, but a small amount may be used to prevent sleepiness ormemory loss. For minor procedures, doctorsprefer local anesthesia that is quick and will likely not cause complications.
Conscious sedation is when low-dose analgesics andlow-dose sedatives/dissociatives are combined. While conscious sedationis not something that people remember, it can be used to help them speak andanswer questions. Conscious sedation isused for certain types of cosmetic and dental surgery as well as LASIK eye andcolon surgery.
Anesthesia that is more concentrated in a particular areaof the body is called regional anesthesia. The nerves are blocked from sending pain signals to thebrain and the entire body becomes numb. Thisis used for epidurals and nerve blocks that require powerful pain relief.
General anesthesia is required for major surgery.Patients are given high doses of each of the three types of medication. An anesthesiologist willfirst make the patient unconscious, then give them the necessary medicationsone by one. To ensure that the patientdoes not regain consciousness and feel any pain, it is important to closelymonitor him or her. A breathing tube andcatheter may be needed to support a patient receiving general anesthesia.
