Anesthetic is any of a group of drugs that cause a loss of sensation. They are given before medical treatment, such as surgery, that would otherwise cause pain. There are many anesthetic drugs, and they can be grouped according to the effect they produce in the patient.
Question: What are the main types of anesthetics?
A general anesthetic, causing loss of consciousness as well as loss of sensation, is given in most surgical operations. Another group, called local anesthetics, causes loss of sensation only in the area to be treated. Dentists often use a local anesthetic during the filling or extraction of a tooth. A third group is the topical anesthetics, which remove sensation from a surface area such as an eye or the nose. They make possible medical examinations without pain to the patient.
Questions: On what basis are different general anesthetics given?
It is the task of an anesthesiologist to decide which general anesthetic is best for the patient. The anesthesiologist reviews the patient's medical history and may order tests to help select the anesthetic.
Question: Are the injections a patient receives when awake part of the anesthetic?
To make the patient relaxed and drowsy, and to dry the mouth and lungs, a sedative injection is given one hour before the operation. Later, immediately before the general anesthetic, an injection of a short-period sleeping drug is given in a vein. This takes effect extremely quickly.
Question: How is a general anesthetic given?
When the patient is asleep after the intravenous injection, a small dose of a drug that relaxes the muscles is generally given. The drugs that continue the general anesthesia are injected or given as gases either through a face mask or a tube inserted through the mouth or nose into the windpipe. The tube is attached to an anesthesia machine, which ensures maximum control over the quantity and composition of the mixture of anesthetic and oxygen.
Question: What precautions are taken before the anesthetic is administered and after consciousness has been regained?
The patient is not allowed anything to eat or drink for at least four hours before the operation. This reduces the changes of vomiting and inhaling fluid into the lungs when the anesthetic is being given.
After the operation, the anesthesiologist should remain with the patient until consciousness is regained.
Question: How do local anesthetics differ from general anesthetics?
A local anesthetic is injected either into the tissues surrounding the area to be treated or next to the nerves serving the area. Adrenaline is sometimes added to the injection to increase the time for which the anesthetic is effective and to reduce bleeding.
Question: What are the various types of local anesthetic?
There are four types of local anesthetic. (1) The most common form of local anesthetic is the type used for a dental injection, in which the loss of sensation affects only a limited area. (2) A local anesthetic that affects a whole section of the body, such as an arm or a leg, produces what is called regional anesthesia. The injection is given close to where the nerves leave the spinal cord. (3) When an injection is given around the spinal cord (epidural anesthesia) or into the cerebrospinal fluid of the spinal cord (spinal anesthesia), the body is anesthetized below the site of injection. Epidural anesthesia is sometimes used during childbirth. (4) Drugs may be injected to produce partial anesthesia combined with amnesia. The patient then becomes peaceful and relaxed.
Hospitalization - Admission Procedures
The procedures you follow on admission to a hospital vary from one hospital to another, but basically the process is the same in most institutions in the United States.
Care of the Dying - Role of Friends
The friend can show appreciation of the work being done by the family and offer to stay with the patient if the family needs a little time away from home.
Care of the Dying - Death of an Older Child or an Adolescent
From the age of three years onward, a child begins to understand the concept of death and dying. The dying child feels protective toward his or her parents. Although the child desperately needs to talk about what is going to happen, he or she may never get close to the subject. The child may attach himself or herself to a nurse or physician while still relying on the parents. By doing this, the child is sharing the emotional responsibility. The parents may find this difficult to accept, but must realize that someone else can perhaps give more help by listening dispassionately to the child's fears and anxieties.
