According to the Guinness Book of World Records, James Boydston was the first patient to have been under anaesthesia for almost 2 days. In 1979, at the age of 26, he underwent a long surgery of 31 hours due to which he was under anaesthesia for 47 hours. His successful recovery shocked physicians and relatives who described his improvement as a “miracle”. Strangely fascinating, right?
Anaesthesiology is the medical speciality that encompasses the use of anaesthetics, which are perioperative medicines that cause a temporary loss of sensation. These medicines, which are either local or general, are used to induce sleep or numbness during operations to prevent patients from feeling pain. Local anaesthetics numb a specific area of the body whereas general anaesthetics affect the entire body.
Anaesthesia can only be injected by medical specialists known as anaesthesiologists or anaesthetists. An anesthesiologist's role in an operation theatre is just as important as a surgeon’s. Anesthesiologists not only provide anaesthesia and explain its uses to patients, they also work in intensive care units, provide pain treatment, etc. Their knowledge in anaesthetics allows them to give their patients advice about monitoring themselves throughout the process of getting an operation.
sourced from https://www.istockphoto.com/
Different anaesthetics can be combined together to satisfy a patient's needs before, during and after an operation. For example, a general anaesthetic can be used in combination with a regional anaesthetic to relieve pain after operating. At times, in order to ensure a patient’s calm sense of mind, sedatives are used with a regional anaesthetic to help make a patient feel more relaxed. This is done either before or during an operation.
Although anaesthetics play an imperative role in perioperative care and are generally safe to use, they can evoke various side effects. The usual side effects may include dizziness, shivering, headaches, itchiness, bruising or soreness at the injection site, difficulty excreting and common aches and pains. Most of these are temporary and mild, and they can also be treated if needed.
However, in worse cases, anaesthetics may cause permanent neurological damage which could lead to complete paralysis or paraesthesias. Paralysis usually occurs within the muscles of a patient due to their head flexion. With a patient’s head in flexion, posterior displacement of upper airway structures, specifically the epiglottis, the flap that prevents food from entering the windpipe, can occur.
Nonetheless, anaesthetics are still widely used and are considered safe because various studies have shown that fatality and paralysis during surgery or after surgery are very unlikely to happen. These may occur only if a patient has an allergic reaction or a history of serious health issues. Most complications, if they were to happen, do not cause death 95% of the time and can be treated with accurate medication.
Despite the fact that the field of anaesthesiology has advanced greatly in helping to avoid physical pain in the safest way possible during medical treatments, there are still patients who prefer to endure extreme pain over anaesthesia as they are afraid of never waking up or of being paralysed during their surgeries. Anaesthesiologists try their best to assure these patients that anaesthesia only has minor implications and that allows patients to be comfortable during operations and prevents them from suffering multiple painful risks.
Written by Diya Dhir
References :
nhs.uk. 2022. Anaesthesia. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/anaesthesia/> [Accessed 24 May 2022].
V, A., M, S., J, N., Z, N., M, S., A, K. and B, K., 2022. History and development of anaesthesiology (with resuscitation and intensive medicine) in the Republic of Macedonia. [online] PubMed. Available at: <https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25754511/> [Accessed 24 May 2022].
Alshehri, A., Ruhaiyem, M., Saade, M., Shoabi, T., Zahoor, H. and Tawfeeq, N., 2022. Fear of going under general anesthesia: A cross-sectional study.
PeerWell. 2022. Scared of Surgery Anesthesia? Here's What You Should Know. [online] Available at: <https://peerwell.co/blog/scared-of-surgery-anesthesia/> [Accessed 24 May 2022].
Comments