Anesthesia was developed in order to block or prevent pain during medical procedures. Anesthesia has been the backbone of the medical world for around 100 years now. Early anesthetics were primitive and many patients simply did not trust anesthetics. Anesthesia is still a risky process even in todays advanced medical world. Anesthesia is not used to treat or diagnose any specific disease; the sole purpose is to aid both the patient and surgeon through procedures. However, anesthesia is used in different ways based on the magnitude of the procedure. There are three levels of anesthesia which include; local, regional, and general anesthesia. An anesthesiologist determines which type of anesthesia will be needed.
Local anesthesia is used for minor procedures and is the safest of the three types of anesthesia. [1] The main objective of this anesthetic is to block pain in a small region of the body. An example of a procedure where a local anesthetic could be used is when a patient has a large gouge in their skin and stitches are required to heal the patient. Regional anesthetics are used to block a larger specific region of the body. A patient would be induced with a regional anesthetic during a caesarean surgery or if an operation needed to be conducted on a limb of the body. [2] General anesthesia is the most dangerous and powerful of the three.[4] When a patient is undergoing an operation such as heart surgery they would be put unconscious for the duration of the surgery by a general anesthetic.
There is no difference between local and regional anesthetics.[1] They only differ in the way they are injected. For local anesthesia, a shot of a local anesthetic is injected around the surgical area. For example, if a...
... middle of paper ...
...the neurotransmission. Injected anesthetics are believed to rapidly block the receptor site which will also prevent neurotransmission.[5]
Works Cited
1) Gmyrek, Robyn. "Local and Regional Anesthesia." Ed. Dirk M. Elston. MedScape.
03 Aug. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011.
2) Fozzard, Harry A., Michael F. Sheets, and Dorothy A. Hanck. "The Sodium Channel as a Target for
Local Anesthetic Drugs." PubMed. 01 Nov. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011.
3) Ritchison, Gary. "Human Physiology - Neurons & the Nervous System." People – Eastern
Kentucky University. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. .
4) Desai, Arjun M. "General Anesthesia." Ed. Meda Raghavendra. Medscape.
3 Aug. 2011. Web. 4 Dec. 2011.
5) Hemmings, H.M. "Sodium Channels and the Synaptic Mechanisms of Inhaled Anaesthetics."
Oxford Journals. Oxford UP, 09 June 2009. Web. 4 Dec. 2011.
Briefly explain the process of neurotransmission. Neurotransmission starts with the neuron, the most important part of the central nervous system. A neuron contains a cell body, axon, and dendrites. When a neuron receives an electrical impulse, the impulse travels away from the cell body down the axon. The axon breaks off into axon terminals. At the axon terminals, the electrical impulse creates a neurotransmitter. The neurotransmitter is released into the synapse, a space between two neurons. If the neurotransmitter tries to stimulate a response of another neuron, it is an excitatory neurotransmitter. If the neurotransmitter does not stimulate a response of another neuron it is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. If a response is generated, the second neuron or postsynaptic neuron will receive an action potential at the site of the dendrite and the communication process will continue on. If a response is not generated, neurotransmitters left in the synapse will be absorbed by the first neuron or presynaptic neuron, a process known as reuptake. Neurotransmitters control our body functions, emotions, and
Reserpine prevents the acceptance mechanism of amines for the storage of granules for sympathetic tissues. Preventing dopamine uptake into granules, allows reserpine to hinder the formation of noradrenaline. In small dosages, reserpine will prevent the release of noradrenaline from separated adrenergic nerve granules.
IV sedation is reserved for our most complicated procedures and patients with very high levels of fear and anxiety. IV sedation creates a sleep-like state that allows you to wake up from a procedure with no memory of the sights, smells, sounds, or sensations that occurred during the treatment. This form of sedation is administered through an intravenous line and only by a licensed
The most common and well described pain transmission is “gate control theory of pain”. This theory was first proposed by Melzack and Wall in 1965 whereby they used the analogy of gate to explain the inhibition of pain which exists within the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. For instance, when tissue damage occurs, substances such as prostaglandin, serotonin, histamine and bradykinin are released from the injured cell. Individual usually consume or apply pain medications such as NSAIDs whereby these medications will cause electrical nerve impulse at the end of the sensory nerve fiber via nociceptor. Nociceptor is a pain receptor that is commonly found in the skin, cornea of eye and organ of motion such as muscles and ligaments. These nerve impulses
Its ability to inhibit sodium channels within brain cells thereby protecting the cells from hypoxia (lack of oxygen)
problems within the specific ion channels known to cause the disease. The goal of the
Now let’s break down what General Anesthesia actually is. General Anesthesia makes you both unconscious and unable to feel pain during medical procedures. A study done by a team from Harvard Medical School, Weill Cornell Medical college, and the Massachusetts Ins...
Neurotransmitters can also produce their effects by modulating the production of other signal-transducing molecules ("second messengers"messengers") in the post-synaptic cells (Cooper, Bloom and Roth 1996). Nine compounds -- belonging to three chemical families -- are generally believed to function as neurotransmitters somewhere in the central nervous system (CNS) or periphery. In addition, certain other body chemicals, for example adenosine, histamine, enkephalins, endorphins, and epinephrine, have neurotransmitter-like properties, and many additional true neurotransmitters may await discovery.
According to Career Cruising, “anesthesiologists are doctors who administer drugs or gases that prevent patients from feeling any pain or sensation during surgery.” They monitor the patient before, during, and after the operation. Career Cruising also noted that before surgery, anesthesiologists consult with patients and make decisions
Individuals need to understand the use of anesthesia always comes with risks. In most cases, however, it's safe when administered by someone with the proper training. Certain individuals, such as those with obstructive sleep apnea or ones who are obese, need to speak to their physician before being sedated, as their risk of complications is higher.
Brody, Michael, and Donald Martin. “The Role of Anesthesiologists.” Physicians Protecting Patients. N.p. N.d. Web. October 21, 2015. An anesthesiologist is a physician who has received at least 8 years of schooling and has completed a residency program dealing with anesthesiology. Now, a licensed physician, an anesthesiologist deals with the administration of anesthesia during many medical procedures, including surgical or obstetric procedures, and pain management for acute and chronic illnesses, or cancer related pain. Anesthesiologists are also in charge of “anesthesia care teams” that include the anesthesiologist, an anesthesia assistant, certified registered nurse anesthetist, and an anesthesia technician. As the leader of the care team, the anesthesiologist is responsible for assessing the patient before, during, and after medical procedures, as well as developing and monitoring performance and quality of practices and standards in regards to administering anesthesia. The entirety of
Stomberg, M., Sjöström, B., & Haljamäe, H. (2003). The Role of the Nurse Anesthetist in the Planning of Postoperative Pain Management. AANA Journal, 71(3), 197.
Sometimes neurons are negatively influenced by the voltage-gated sodium channels’ loss of ability. Tetrodotoxin (TTX) and saxitoxin are two of the deadliest poisons in the world, found in pufferfish and poison dart frogs, respectively. The reason they are so dangerous is that they block only voltage-gated sodium channels (as opposed to blocking both sodium and potassium channels, as done by medical anesthetics), and therefore completely throw off the relationship between the sodium channels and the potassium channels, and therefore the balance between concentrations of Na+ and K+
Anesthesia is used in almost every single surgery. It is a numbing medicine that numbs the nerves and makes the body go unconscious. You can’t feel anything or move while under the sedative and are often delusional after being taken off of the anesthetic. Believe it or not, about roughly two hundred years ago doctors didn’t use anesthesia during surgery. It was rarely ever practiced. Patients could feel everything and were physically held down while being operated on. 2It wasn’t until 1846 that a dentist first used an anesthetic on a patient going into surgery and the practice spread and became popular (Anesthesia). To this day, advancements are still being made in anesthesiology. 7The more scientists learn about molecules and anesthetic side effects, the better ability to design agents that are more targeted, more effective and safer, with fewer side effects for the patients (Anesthesia). Technological advancements will make it easier to read vital life signs in a person and help better decide the specific dosages a person needs.
Everyday, people go through surgery and require a specialist that will monitor their surgery as well as give them what they need to be able to persevere the pain, which is exactly what anesthesiologists do. In order for the patients to be able to get into surgery and deal with the agonizing aches after the abscission, anesthesiologists have to give the sufferer the proper treatment before and after the surgery. Overall, anesthesiologists must be highly educated in both medicine and communication, they need to be able to give the patient the right amount of medicine as well as speak with the family of patients and other doctors to inform them all with what will be done during the surgery, and they need to be able to properly assist the surgeons during operations.