The operating room has always been regarded as a mysterious place, and the reason why it is mysterious is that people who enter it will be "numb". With the continuous development of science and technology, anesthesia methods are also constantly updated. However, apart from professionals, people do not have much knowledge about anesthesia. Many patients ask questions such as "Can I do semi anesthesia this time?" "Can I choose my own anesthesia method?" Today, we will enter this mysterious place to explore common anesthesia methods and precautions.
1. Common anesthesia methods
1.1 General anesthesia
As its name suggests, this anesthesia method is affected by drugs throughout the body. According to the different administration methods, it is mainly divided into three methods: intravenous, inhalation, and combination of intravenous and inhalation. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages. First, let's understand the first administration method, which uses an indwelling needle to infuse drugs into the patient's body, and then the patient enters an anesthetic state. The second method is to use a face mask to inhale high concentrations of medication, which will enter the patient's body with their breath, resulting in corresponding consequences. The third method is to combine the first two methods and work together on the human body, which has the effect of complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses, and has become a commonly used general anesthesia method in clinical practice.
1.2 Regional Anesthesia
This anesthesia method mainly acts on the nervous system of the body, thereby achieving the effect of losing sensation in the local nerve innervated area. It is mainly divided into four methods: intraspinal anesthesia, nerve block, local infiltration, and surface anesthesia. Each method also has its advantages and disadvantages. The first method is to inject drugs into the spinal canal of the body, and the drugs will eventually enter the patient's spinal nerves through the canal. This method can make the patient's lower limbs lose sensation and become a traditional Chinese medicine anesthesia method for lower limb and lower abdominal surgery. The second method refers to the anesthesia being applied to the patient's nerve trunk or the surrounding nerve plexus. The third method refers to blocking the nerve endings around the surgical site, which has certain requirements for surgery and is only suitable for shallow and short surgeries. The fourth method is to use spraying to block the nerve endings of the local mucosa, which is particularly suitable for surgeries or examinations in areas such as the cornea, nasal cavity, and throat.
2 Precautions
2.1 Precautions for Complications
Reflux and aspiration are common complications related to decreased or absent swallowing reflex and esophageal sphincter relaxation in patients. Once these complications occur, they may pose a threat to the patient's life. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the time of fasting and drinking before surgery. Generally, it is necessary to not eat for 6 to 8 hours and not drink water for 4 hours. For children, the corresponding time can be shortened, usually controlled at around 2 hours. After surgery, some patients may experience delayed recovery due to incomplete metabolism of anesthetic drugs. Patients and their families do not need to worry too much, as recovery can usually be achieved within 60 to 90 minutes, and the drugs will not affect the patient's health. Mild nausea and vomiting in postoperative patients is also a normal phenomenon. The choice of postoperative position depends on whether the patient is awake and comfortable. If there are no special circumstances, the patient can choose a lateral or oblique position as long as they feel comfortable.
2.2 Preoperative smoking cessation requirement
For long-term smokers, there is a large amount of secretion in the lungs, which accumulates under the action of medication and surgery, leading to a significant increase in the incidence of pulmonary embolism and emphysema. The best time to quit smoking is 8 weeks before surgery, and quitting smoking earlier is more beneficial for patients.
2.3 Medication Discontinuation
Many patients with multiple comorbidities, especially elderly patients, will be visited by anesthesiologists before surgery. Patients must disclose the medication they have been taking recently and cannot conceal it, which is beneficial for doctors to evaluate the anesthesia method. If patients take hypoglycemic drugs, antiplatelet drugs, cardiovascular drugs, anticoagulants, etc. before surgery, they need to stop taking them under the guidance of a doctor to avoid affecting the progress of the surgery.
After the previous explanation, I believe everyone has gained a certain understanding of the mysterious anesthesia. Before anesthesia, doctors will choose the most appropriate anesthesia plan based on the patient's specific condition, the severity of the disease, etc. Patients can also communicate with doctors according to their own needs and choose a method that is conducive to disease treatment and reduces their own pain.