Anesthesia plays a vital role in the safe and effective performance of surgical operations. Anesthesia is a medical approach used to ensure that the patient has a pain-free surgery and that the surgical team can work comfortably.
There are three main types of anesthesia used in surgery: general anesthesia, regional anesthesia and local anesthesia. General anesthesia is a method where the patient loses consciousness and the whole body is numbed. Regional anesthesia involves numbing a specific area and the patient is usually conscious. Local anesthesia is used to numb smaller areas, for example for minor procedures such as mole removal.
Regional anesthesia is preferred to numb the lower part of the area targeted by the surgery. These types of anesthesia include spinal anesthesia, epidural anesthesia and combined spinal-epidural anesthesia, which is a combination of the two. The most appropriate method is chosen taking into account factors such as the type and duration of the operation.
This type of anesthesia is especially preferred for surgeries performed under the umbilicus. These methods are frequently used for caesarean section, normal delivery, inguinal hernia, bladder and anal area surgeries, hip-knee prosthesis and varicocele surgery.
Spinal anesthesia is a method in which a certain level of the spinal cord is numbed with a single injection. The cerebral cortex is punctured and medication is injected into the spinal fluid, which causes numbness to set in. Epidural anesthesia is performed by injecting the injection into the epidural space and inserting a thin tube. With this method, patients’ postoperative pain can also be managed.
Regional anesthesia offers advantages over general anesthesia. Patients do not need to be connected to a ventilator and side effects such as nausea and vomiting are less common. It has advantages such as rapid mother-baby contact, especially in caesarean sections, and less drug exposure for the baby compared to general anesthesia.
However, regional anesthesia cannot be used in cases such as bleeding clotting problems, use of blood thinners and infection in the lumbar region. It may also not be used in children and depending on the patient’s preference.
