Anaesthetic Care For All Surgical Specialities

 An epidural procedure involves your anaesthetist inserting an epidural needle and catheter into your lower back. The catheter allows us to put local anaesthetic (‘numbing drugs’) and other drugs into the epidural area of the spine, which temporarily blocks the nerves that transmit pain.

Your anaesthetist will use general anaesthesia to put you into a deep state of unconsciousness, rendering you oblivious to your surgical procedure.

You’ll receive the anaesthetic through either mask inhalation, intravenous drip or a combination of both delivery methods. While unconscious, your anaesthetist will keep you under observation, using specialist equipment to ensure you stay safe throughout your procedure.

Local anaesthesia numbs a specific area of your body, allowing you to stay awake during your surgical procedure. Your anaesthetist will inject a numbing medication into the affected area in order to remove any physical sensations or pain during your surgery. Local anaesthesia may often be combined with light sedation to lessen anxiety and provide amnesia for the procedure.

Local anaesthesia is most often used for smaller procedures such as skin lesion removal, eye and facial surgeries. The benefits include avoiding some of the risks involved with general anaesthesia, rapid recovery, early return to eating and drinking, low risk of nausea, and ongoing pain relief post-operation.

We use sedative techniques to induce a state of relaxation and drowsiness for procedures such as endoscopy, colonoscopy and other procedures that can cause anxiety in patients. Your anaesthetist will insert a needle into your arm or hand and administer medication that will send you into a light sleep or relaxed state.

During the sedation your anaesthetist will give you oxygen via a mask. You’ll begin to feel drowsy or sleepy soon after the drugs have been administered and likely won’t remember much of the procedure.

 

A nerve block is a superior form of pain relief that temporarily blocks certain nerves from transmitting pain to your brain. Before surgery, your anaesthetist injects a local anaesthetic around the nerves related to that area of your body. They may combine the nerve block with sedation or general anaesthetic for complete pain relief that can last up to a day after your surgery.

Depending on your procedure, your anaesthetist may insert a catheter through the needle next to the nerve to allow you to continue to receive effective pain relief over several days.

For surgical procedures to the lower body and upper abdominals, your anaesthetist may use spinal anaesthesia (sometimes in addition to general anaesthesia). To cause the lower half of your body to become numb to pain and sensation, the medication is injected into the fluid just outside the spinal cord. This type of anaesthetic can provide pain relief for up to 24 hours, but will usually begin to wear off after around 2 hours.

Your anaesthetist will take your medical condition, the type of operation and certain other factors into consideration to determine whether this type of anaesthetic is best suited to your surgical needs.