Anesthesia 101
Plain-language answers about what anesthesia is, the types you might receive, and who is caring for you in the operating room.
What is anesthesia?
Anesthesia is medicine that keeps you comfortable and safe during surgery or a procedure by blocking pain and, depending on the type, keeping you relaxed, drowsy, or fully unconscious.
Your physician anesthesiologist chooses the type of anesthesia based on your procedure, your health, and your preferences, then monitors and adjusts it from start to finish. They watch your breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, and other vital signs the entire time.
The main types of anesthesia
Your physician anesthesiologist may use one type or combine several, tailored to your procedure and your needs.
General anesthesia
Medicine makes you fully unconscious and unaware during surgery. Your physician anesthesiologist monitors you continuously, adjusts the anesthesia, and manages your breathing throughout the procedure.
Regional anesthesia
Medicine numbs a larger part of the body, such as everything below the waist, while you stay awake or lightly sedated. Epidurals and spinal blocks are common examples.
Sedation
Medicine helps you relax and feel drowsy, from light to deep. It is often paired with local or regional anesthesia for shorter procedures.
Local anesthesia
Medicine numbs a small, specific area while you stay fully awake. It is common for minor procedures.
Who is in the room
Your anesthesia care is led by a physician anesthesiologist, a medical doctor who specializes in anesthesia. The physician anesthesiologist evaluates you beforehand, plans your anesthesia, and directs your care throughout the procedure.
Working alongside the physician anesthesiologist are trained anesthesia professionals and technicians who help deliver your care. Your surgeon, operating room nurses, and other specialists round out the team, all coordinating to keep you safe.
Questions to ask your physician anesthesiologist
Bring these to your preoperative conversation. There is no such thing as a question that is too small.
Sometime before the day of your surgery, you should speak with your physician anesthesiologist so they can gather the information needed to plan the right anesthesia care for you. Be prepared to discuss your medical history, your health habits, and your past experiences with surgery and anesthesia.
It is natural to feel nervous about surgery and anesthesia. If you are afraid, tell your physician anesthesiologist. They can give you information to ease your mind and help you feel safe. Anesthesia is safer than ever, but surgery and anesthesia are not without risk. That is why having a physician anesthesiologist responsible for your care in the operating room is so important.
Your physician anesthesiologist continues to care for you after surgery, so ask how your pain will be managed and raise any concerns you have about recovery, returning home, and getting back to your normal routine.
Your physician anesthesiologist leads your anesthesia care team. Depending on your procedure, the physician anesthesiologist may care for you directly or direct a team of trained anesthesia professionals and technicians. In every case, a physician anesthesiologist is responsible for your anesthesia care from your preoperative evaluation through your recovery.
Yes. A member of the anesthesia care team stays with you throughout your procedure.
It is the right of every pregnant patient to decide how they want to deliver. Many people choose a labor epidural, but it is not required. Should you change your mind during labor, your OB/GYN will call the physician anesthesiologist to evaluate you for an epidural. If you wait too long, an epidural may not be possible or may not help as much as it would have earlier, so discuss your options with your OB/GYN and your physician anesthesiologist before you go into labor.