Types of Anaesthetic

Your anaesthetist will be working in conjunction with your surgeon to ensure your surgical procedure and recovery period is as comfortable and pain free as possible.

There are a number of different anaesthetics that may be used according to the surgery or procedure that you will be having. The type of anaesthetic will be discussed by your anaesthetist who will see you prior to your surgery. The most common anaesthetics used are:

General Anaesthesia - Anaesthetic agents are administered to induce a state of unconsciousness, muscular relaxation, and abscence of pain to allow for surgery to occur. A general anaesthetic is normally administered "intravenously" (a needle inserted into a vein in the back of your hand, or forearm) to put you to "sleep". The anaesthetic is maintained throughout surgery by you breathing anaesthetic gases, with your anaesthetist closely watching and constantly monitoring you.
Sedation - Some procedures such as colonscopy or gastroscopy only require a "light" anaesthetic. Your anaesthetist may give you sedation to put you into a "twilight sleep" which will make you feel relaxed and drowsy during the procedure.
Regional Anaesthesia - Regional anaesthesia causes nerve blockage to a particular area of the body where the surgery is to be performed. Most often you are awake during the surgery, however you will be free of pain. The most common regional anaesthetics are epidurals for labour or caeserean section, or eye blocks for cataract surgery.
Local Anaesthesia - a local anaesthetic is confined to one part of the body and is used to numb an area that is to be operated on. Local anaesthetics are usually used for small or minor procedures.

Next: Your Health History