General Anesthesia
General Anesthesia
When someone faces surgery, they most likely have many concerns. Among them usually include going under anesthesia. They may worry about losing consciousness, how they may feel afterward, or if it is even safe. There are several types of anesthesia that can be used depending on the needs of the surgery, such as: general, local, regional, and conscious sedation. In this paper, I will focus on discussing general anesthesia’s history, purpose, effects, and safety.
History of Anesthesia
Nearly 60,000 people nationwide undergo surgery using general anesthesia every day (Wein, 2011). Anesthesia is described as using a “combination of drugs” that makes surgery more tolerable for both doctors and patients. This type of anesthesia is usually administered through intravenous injection and inhaled drugs, which cause a complete loss of consciousness in the patient (NSRL, n.d.). It also blocks pain as well as keeps the patient immobile during the operation. Uses of anesthesia have been recorded and were experimented with by the Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, whom of which documented their research in medical texts; however, there is also evidence of anesthetic use that predates written text going back thousands of years (Grupo Biblio Medical, 2009).
This history of anesthesia has a painful background. “The primary motive was to save countless lives that were being lost every year by diseases and conditions unknown to the physicians of the time” (Hani, para 1, 2010). Throughout our history, surgeons have tried many means to relieve pain during surgery. The most common came from plants and herbs, alcohol, or even a physical blow to render an unconscious state of the patient. Obviously, these methods often rendered significant consequences (Hani, 2010).
Early plant derivative anesthetics range from: mandrake, henbane, and Datura and were utilized to numb the area in which to be treated (Fischer, 2011). In the thirteenth century, these derivatives
When someone faces surgery, they most likely have many concerns. Among them usually include going under anesthesia. They may worry about losing consciousness, how they may feel afterward, or if it is even safe. There are several types of anesthesia that can be used depending on the needs of the surgery, such as: general, local, regional, and conscious sedation. In this paper, I will focus on discussing general anesthesia’s history, purpose, effects, and safety.
History of Anesthesia
Nearly 60,000 people nationwide undergo surgery using general anesthesia every day (Wein, 2011). Anesthesia is described as using a “combination of drugs” that makes surgery more tolerable for both doctors and patients. This type of anesthesia is usually administered through intravenous injection and inhaled drugs, which cause a complete loss of consciousness in the patient (NSRL, n.d.). It also blocks pain as well as keeps the patient immobile during the operation. Uses of anesthesia have been recorded and were experimented with by the Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, whom of which documented their research in medical texts; however, there is also evidence of anesthetic use that predates written text going back thousands of years (Grupo Biblio Medical, 2009).
This history of anesthesia has a painful background. “The primary motive was to save countless lives that were being lost every year by diseases and conditions unknown to the physicians of the time” (Hani, para 1, 2010). Throughout our history, surgeons have tried many means to relieve pain during surgery. The most common came from plants and herbs, alcohol, or even a physical blow to render an unconscious state of the patient. Obviously, these methods often rendered significant consequences (Hani, 2010).
Early plant derivative anesthetics range from: mandrake, henbane, and Datura and were utilized to numb the area in which to be treated (Fischer, 2011). In the thirteenth century, these derivatives
References: Fischer, A. (2011, August 04). Under the knife: Study shows rising death rates from general anesthesia. Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2011/08/04/under-the-knife-study-shows-rising-death-rates-from-general-anesthesia/ Grupo Biblio Medical. (2009, May 04). A brief history of anesthetics. Retrieved from http://www.grupobibliomed.com/?p=3 Hani. (2010, February 24). History of anesthesia. Retrieved from http://explorable.com/history-of-anesthesia NSRL. (n.d.). Neural signal processing algorithms. Retrieved from http:// www.neurostat.mit.edu/ Tahoedoc. (2013, April 03). How does anesthesia affect the body?. Retrieved from http://tahoedoc.hubpages.com/hub/How-Does-Anesthesia-Affect-the-Body Wein, H. (2011, April). Waking up to anesthesia: Learn more before you go under. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://newsinhealth.nih. gov/issue/Apr2011/Feature1