Anesthesiology is the practice of administering sedation and/or anesthesia to prevent pain during surgery. Anesthesiologists specialize in the field after additional training and residency, and choose the best method of anesthesia based on factors such as age, height, weight, and general health. They also monitor patients before and after surgery to determine the best methods of anesthesia and observe how well the patient has tolerated it.
Anesthesia is the study and practice of administering sedation and/or anesthesia to a living creature for the purpose of blocking pain. There are anesthetists who practice on animals and those who treat humans.
Anesthesiology is, for many people, a rather mysterious and even disturbing field of medicine. Who knows what actually happens to a person when they are “put under”? One could say, in fact, that anesthesiology is the branch of medicine that comes closest to clinically causing death and resurrection on the operating table.
An anesthetist specializes in the field after undergoing the usual medical training and residency. Most physicians are general trained in anesthesiology, but like all medical specialties, additional study and residency in that field is required for certification. The main goal of anesthesiology is to prevent the patient from feeling pain. Therefore, an anesthetist may also be involved in a patient’s pain management after surgery. He or she will also often recommend the best method of anesthesia, depending on the procedure, as not all methods are suitable for every procedure on every patient.
Numerous medications are available for the anesthesiologist to choose from, and part of anesthesiology training is knowing which medication is right for which patient for a given procedure. Age, height, weight, and general health are all factors. For example, the patient might be an older woman with a broken hip. Depending on your general health and the procedure your surgeon will be performing, your anesthetist will determine whether you need general or general anesthesia or if an epidural can be given to block the pain. Because older adults often do not tolerate general anesthesia very well, the anesthesiologist may determine that an epidural will block the pain of the surgery, but still maintain the patient’s consciousness.
Anesthesia is essential in any surgical procedure, but especially in complex surgeries such as an open heart. Your heart may need to stop completely, and that’s the anesthetist’s job. He or she will often have a particular set of nurses and technicians who work only with that doctor during surgery and monitor the patient’s vital statistics.
A good anesthetist will also visit the patient before and after the surgery. This helps him determine which methods of anesthesia to use and also allows the doctor to observe how well the patient has tolerated the anesthesia. This could be crucial knowledge for further treatment and other surgical procedures. Spooky or not, anesthesiology is a necessary branch of medicine.
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