Advantages And Disadvantages Of Anesthesia

Technological advancements and inventions have blossomed from 1815 to present day. A number of advancements and inventions have come to change the world, as we know it. A medical advancement that is still changing the world today is the use of anesthesia. Anesthesia provides the feeling of insensitivity to pain in the form of relaxation of the muscles. This has been critical when conducting surgical operations especially those with long durations. “Of all milestones and achievements in medicine, conquering pain must be one of the very few that has potentially affected every human being in the world” (Robinson). In 1846 Dr. William Morton, a Dentist from Massachusetts was the first to use anesthesia during a tooth extraction. With the help

Local anesthesia is given to temporarily stop pain from occurring in a particular part of the body. A patient is conscious when local anesthesia is being used. When dealing with minor surgeries doctors will use local anesthesia via injection, so the patient will not feel any pain. However, depending the location and size of the area that is being worked on the doctors will use regional anesthesia. A specific portion of the body that is being operated on will be injected. Regional anesthesia has several forms, but the two most common are spinal anesthetic and epidural anesthetic. Spinal anesthetic is mostly used for orthopedic procedures on the lower extremities. Epidural anesthetics can be used for procedures on the chest or abdominal region, but typical is used on women during childbirth. Unlike local and regional anesthesia, general anesthesia is used to induce unconsciousness during a surgical procedure. This type of anesthesia can be introduced by inhalation through a breathing mask or via intravenous injection. Once surgery is complete, the patient is transported to recovery for monitoring. Scientists have created different anesthetics to target specific elements ranging from unconsciousness, sedation, amnesia, immobility,

In most cases surgery is a life saving procedure that must be done. While the techniques, equipment, and procedures used during this process have changed the pain that is produced during surgery has remained relatively the same. Without proper anesthesia during surgery the pain would be unimaginably. Although we have effective anesthetic today, scientist and doctors are still working to improve it even