Types of Anesthesia in Cosmetic Surgery

Cosmetic Surgery and Types of Anesthesia

Many patients tend to be more concerned about having a general anesthetic compared to actually going through the operation itself. You might be worried that something could happen which may indicate that you won’t wake up again, or perhaps that you’re going to lose control and act in an undignified manner whilst you are asleep. These days anesthetics are incredibly safe, and speedily induced as well as reversed. Once asleep, you’re in the hands of a qualified and competent professional and are carefully monitored during the entire procedure.

Occasionally factors from your medical and health background or past experience associated with anesthetics can influence the decision, but the kind of anesthetic which is used depends upon the nature as well as extent of the operation, the preference of the surgeon and the actual wishes of the patient.

Basically there are 3 types of anesthesia: local, regional and general.

Local Anesthetic

The part of your body to be operated on is made numb by injecting a local anesthetic agent straight into the tissue. There’s usually a preliminary short stinging sensation as the anesthetic is administered, after which the area will end up totally numb with no feeling whatsoever. You will still remain aware of what is going on around you but won’t experience any unpleasant feeling such as discomfort or pain.

For some procedures heavy sedation is coupled with local anesthetic and this is known as a ‘twilight anesthetic’. A few surgeons favor a twilight anesthetic specific procedures, such as facelifts.

It’s usual to give oral sedative drugs prior to injection of local anesthetic for really nervous patients who have a phobia of needles. In most situations the local anesthetic is actually mixed with adrenaline to extend the effect from the anesthetic as well as minimize bleeding in the area injected (the adrenaline is used to narrow the blood vessels in the immediate vicinity of the injected area).

Regional Anesthetic

By using this technique a particular area of the body can be made numb. Regional anaesthesia is used more and more to avoid the potential side effects of a general anesthetic.

The following types of regional anaesthesia are frequently utilized:

Nerve Block

Some operations are performed utilizing a method known as nerve block. This system requires a detailed understanding of the physiology of the neural supply to the location to be operated on. Local anesthetic is injected into the tissue immediately in the vicinity of the targeted neural trunk. The local anesthetic is absorbed into the nerve sheath and in the short term interrupts the passing of neural impulses thereby creating a numbness in the whole area, that is supplied by the actual nerve.

The nerve block technique is most often used for cosmetic surgery procedures on the face. The whole face can be numbed with some strategically positioned injections. More regularly, specific parts of the face area are numbed to ensure that a procedure can be carried out without pain e.g. on the nose as well as the lips.

Spinal Anesthetic

This technique requires the injection of local anesthetic directly into the fluid that encompases the actual nerves within the lower part of the spine. Therefore , it is employed for procedures below the midsection as well as in the pelvic region. You are totally numb from the waist and lower for several hours.

Epidural Anesthetic

This is a comparable technique to the spinal anesthetic. A narrow tube made out of plastic is inserted and left in position near the nerves in the lower part of the spine. Repeated dosage amounts of local anesthetic can then be given through this tube without the necessity of further injections, to extend the effect and duration.

General Anesthetic

Over recent years, the development of new, safer anesthetic drugs, and advanced, computerised monitoring equipment has taken place. These days general anesthetics have become incredibly safe and you don’t have to be concerned or apprehensive of being put to sleep. Many millions of anesthetics are successfully administered throughout the world each and every year.

A general anesthetic puts you to sleep and you will be totally unaware of what is going on around you. Once the operation is finished you wake up after the anesthetic is reversed.

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