Anaesthesia
Types of anesthesia
There are two types of anesthesia: general anesthesia and spinal or epidural anesthesia;
each of these has advantages, disadvantages and carries potential risks.
General anesthesia
The patient is fully anesthetized by surgery; a tracheal tube (tube) is inserted through the mouth and the trachea to allow breathing, and monitoring of the anesthetics is performed. At the end of the operation, the anesthesiologist removes the tube.
Under general anesthesia there are a number of risks:
Common risks:
Mild sore throat, nausea and dizziness.
Rare risks:
Damage to the teeth during the insertion of the tube, transfer of stomach contents to the lungs (aspiration), allergic reaction and shock.
Epidural or spinal anesthesia
This anesthetic is suitable for lower body surgery, such as knee replacement surgery or hip replacement. During spinal anesthesia, anesthetics are injected into the lower back area in a sterile manner, when the patient is either sitting or lying on their side. After the injection site is numbed, a needle is inserted into the casing around the spinal cord, and the anesthetic is injected.
Then the needle is removed, the nerves in the injected area and under it are anesthetized (lower body), there is no feeling of pain and the leg upon which surgery is to be performed cannot be moved. This anesthetic usually wears off after four to eight hours. In addition to the regional anesthesia, the patient is deeply sedated, so he does not hear or see the operation.
Advantages of Spinal Anesthesia:
- There is no need for intubation, so there will be no sore throat.
- You can eat and drink immediately after surgery.
- In most cases, there is no dizziness, nausea or vomiting after surgery.
- The risk of a blood clot forming in the legs and pulmonary embolisms is reduced.
Disadvantages of Spinal Anesthesia:
Common disadvantages:
- Urinary retention – Most often a urinary catheter is inserted during surgery and is removed the day after surgery.
- Decreased blood pressure.
Uncommon disadvantages:
- Failure of anesthesia – In this case, the anesthesiologist switches to general anesthesia and a tube is inserted.
- Headaches.
Rare:
- Nerve damage.
- Bleeding around the site of spinal injection.
- Infection.
