Anesthesia
Anesthesia leads to loss of sensations. Anesthetics medications cause anesthesia. The anesthesiologist uses anesthetics medications during surgical operations or tests to create a numb sensation in body parts or induce sleep. It helps prevent discomfort or pain and enables doctors to carry out a wide range of procedures.
Two common anesthetics are local and general anesthesia:
- Local anesthesia (often used during minor procedures) helps to stay fully conscious while dumbing down the small body area.
- General anesthesia (often used for painful surgeries or operations) helps to stay completely unaware and unconscious of the procedure.
Anesthesia types
Unlike general anesthesia, other anesthetics don’t make you unconscious; they stop you from feeling pain in a particular body part.
- Regional anesthetic: A local anesthetic that leads to numbness for operations that require more extensive numbness.
- Epidural anesthetic: The anesthetic numbs the lower half of the body (for childbirth or during labor).
- Spinal anesthetic: A type of regional anesthetic that numbs down the body for three hours, such as your spine or lower back, for the surgery to carry out safely.
- Sedation: A medication that makes you sleepy and relaxes both physical and mental health to calm you during minor painful procedures.
There can also be a combination of anesthesia, for example, sedatives sometimes used with regional to help feel calm and relaxed.
Anesthesia side effects
Some common side effects are:
- Sickness
- Dizziness
- Shivering or feeling cold
- Headaches
- Itchiness
- Soreness and bruising
- Difficulty peeing
- Pain and aches
The side effects usually don’t last very long, and if required, there are treatments to cure them.
Reviewed by – Dr. Priyanka, MBBS MD Microbiology
Page last reviewed: 16 JULY 2022