What is Anesthesia, and is it SAFE?

Anesthesia is the total loss of feeling or sensation. It is primarily used when surgeries are performed to block any painful sensations for the patient. There are different types of anesthesia. What are the indications for performing anesthesia?
What are the types of anesthesia?
There are four main categories of anesthesia most commonly used. These include: local anesthesia, regional anesthesia, sedation and general anesthesia.

What is local anesthesia?
Local anesthesia is when injections of local anesthetic drug medications are used to block sensation to a smaller and more specific area of the body or face.

What is regional anesthesia?
Regional anesthesia typically is referring to the use of local anesthetic drugs to block an area/region of the body. It does so by blocking a set of nerves that are responsible for the sensation of that area. An example of this is an epidural. Regional anesthesia does not affect the brain, but might used in conjunction with sedation for additional patient comfort.

What is sedation?
Sedation is the use of drug medications to make a patient feel extremely relaxed and "drowsy”, therefore supporting the patient to feel more comfortable. It does not result in complete unconsciousness, but can result in amnesia (not remembering) and the patient may actually doze off and fall asleep for a period of time.

What is general anesthesia?
General anesthesia is when medications are used that affects the brain in a way that causes unconsciousness/unawareness. As a result, the patient becomes unaware of stimulation and pain and does not remember anything during this time .Some of the medications used are the same or similar to medications that are used in sedation, but often at a higher dose.

What makes anesthesia safe?
Your anesthesiologist is responsible to know as much as possible about your overall health from the start of your anesthesia until you leave the recovery room. Your anesthesiologist makes sure that the entire anesthesia is tailored to your specific requirements to ensure your experience with anesthesia is a safe and easy one. He or she will also be responsible to check all equipment to ensure it is working properly before you undergo anesthesia. A well-trained and certified Anesthesiologist knows what to do if a situation occurs with any of the equipment during your anesthesia. He or she will be with you throughout your operation, monitoring you and your surgeon. Your anesthesiologist also continuously watches a number of monitors that measure many of the things happening to you while you are under the effects of the anesthesia. Should there be any complications, either because of the anesthesia medications, or more likely because of the operation, your anesthesiologist will respond quickly, having been fully trained in managing emergencies.

Modern anesthesia is extremely safe, despite some of the stories you hear. To compare one hour of being under anesthesia with, say, one hour spent in traffic or on a one-hour plane trip, the risk of dying is about one in ten thousand in traffic, about one in one million in an aircraft, and one in 100,000 – 500,000 during anesthesia. If you compare one hour of having anesthesia with an hour of air travel, then the risk of dying is about five to ten times higher during anesthesia. In contrast, an hour spent parachute-jumping carries a risk of death about 20 – 100 times that associated with anesthesia. The safety of anesthesia has increased over the years, even though much more complicated operations are being performed, for patients with more severe illnesses. In most Western countries, the risk of death associated with anesthesia has decreased to one-tenth of what it was thirty years ago. You can be confident that modern anesthesia is very safe.