Anesthesia how long it stays in body
Before your surgery, meet with the physician anesthesiologist to discuss your medical history, health habits, and lifestyle. This information will help the physician anesthesiologist know how you might react to anesthesia and take steps to lower your risk of side effects. This meeting is also a good time for you to ask questions and learn what to expect. There are four main types of anesthesia used during medical procedures and surgery, and the potential risks vary with each.
The types of anesthesia include the following:. General anesthesia. General anesthesia causes you to lose consciousness. This type of anesthesia, while very safe, is the type most likely to cause side effects. Monitored anesthesia care or IV sedation. For some procedures, you may receive medication that makes you sleepy and keeps you from feeling pain.
Potential side effects of sedation, although there are fewer than with general anesthesia, include headache, nausea, and drowsiness. These side effects usually go away quickly. Naturally, that can dehydrate the body, Patel says. And two, to help your body do its job of metabolizing medications," she says. Grogginess is one of the most common side effects of anesthesia. According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, other side effects of general anesthesia could include: a sore throat, confusion or delirium, muscle aches, chills and shivering, and itching.
Anesthesia is generally required for any procedure that would be painful to experience while awake, requires a feeding tube, or where the patient needs to remain still. You should stop eating eight hours before the procedure, and stop drinking clear liquids water, black coffee, fruit juice without pulp, etc. Anesthesiologists will also ask if you take medication, have allergies, drink alcohol, smoke, or take recreational drugs, to avoid any dangerous interactions with the medicine.
If the procedure requires a breathing tube, the anesthesiologist may also ask to look in your mouth. Anesthesia can affect everyone differently, and it generally takes about an hour for the side effects to wear off—although the actual medicine may linger much longer.
Drinking plenty of fluids, with permission from your doctor, can help you re-hydrate post-procedure, and may help flush excess waste out of your system. Want your passion for wellness to change the world? Become A Functional Nutrition Coach! Enroll today to join our upcoming live office hours. Our FREE doctor-approved gut health guide. You are now subscribed Be on the lookout for a welcome email in your inbox!
Main Navigation. Log in Profile. Surgery itself causes pain, stress and anxiety, Meiler notes. Although doctors must be able to blunt pain, keep a patient from moving and block awareness and memory during surgery, they also must be able to awaken the patient soon after the surgery. Accounts of patients waking up during surgery had spurred the development of the sophisticated monitors, but even with the monitors, doctors face a balancing act.
Doctors also say that giving patients certain drugs before surgery can offset the risks of death later. For example, beta-blockers, drugs that control hypertension, are recommended for many patients before non-cardiac surgery to reduce the risk of postoperative death. Beta blockers can relieve stress on the heart during surgery. Preoperative visits between the patient and anesthesiologist increasingly may include discussions about minimizing the long-term risks of surgery.
Certain patients may be safer with a particular type of anesthesia, for example. But anesthetic medications can suspend these reflexes, which could cause food to become inhaled into the lungs if there is vomiting or regurgitation under anesthesia. Sometimes, though, the anesthesiologist will say it's OK to drink clear liquids or take specific medications a few hours before surgery.
To ensure your safety during the surgery, you'll need to answer all of the anesthesiologist's questions as honestly and thoroughly as possible. Things that may seem harmless could interact with or affect the anesthesia and how you react to it. You also can ask plenty of your own questions.
If you don't meet the anesthesiologist before the day of the operation, you may want to ask your doctor or surgeon the following questions beforehand so you can have all the answers you need:.
You might be given a sedative before going into the operating room, but for minor procedures, this might not be needed. In fact, some people may prefer not to be sedated.
The decision of whether or not to sedate you beforehand is made by the anesthesiologist, using your input. If general anesthesia is used, the anesthesiologist will start transitioning you from the normal awake state to the sleepy state of anesthesia. This is called induction , which is usually done by either injecting medicine through an IV or by inhaling gases through a mask.
If, like lots of people, you're afraid of needles, the good news is that you may not have to get one while awake. Anesthesiologists often will begin the induction process by using a breathing mask to help you relax.
The mask delivers medication to make you sleepy before and during the surgery. That way, you won't be awake when the IV is inserted for general anesthesia or when a shot is given to numb a certain part or area of the body for local or regional anesthesia.