Common Procedures – Anaesthetics
ANAESTHETICS - by Dr Merrick Laforest
Anaesthesia for Day Stay procedures
Day Stay Anaesthesia is different from Anaesthesia for longer, more complicated procedures. Fewer drugs are usually used and recovery times are a lot shorter. In general, less pain and discomfort are experienced post- operatively and fewer complications are seen post-operatively. Your surgeon will assess your suitability for a Day Stay operation and discuss any concerns he may have with your Anaesthetist prior to your being admitted to Sydney ENT and Facial Day Surgery Centre.
Types of Anaesthesia
The Anaesthetic you receive will either be:
A Local Anaesthetic: This involves the injection of a local anaesthetic drug into the operation site while you are awake. (this technique is not frequently used alone).
A Local Anaesthetic with Sedation: You are also given medicine to make you drowsy during your operation. This often causes you to forget the procedure even though you are not fully asleep.
General Anaesthesia: This is the commonest type of Anaesthesia given at SENTFDSC. You are fully asleep. With modern drugs and techniques, general Anaesthesia is extremely safe, drifting off to sleep is a very comfortable experience and the effects of the drugs wear off very quickly afterwards.
Preparing for Day surgery
You will be rung by a Recovery Room Sister on the day prior to your operation. The sister will explain what times to stop eating and drinking on the morning of your operation and arrival time at the centre. Ask the Sister about any concerns you may have. The lead up to Surgery can be quite an anxious time for patients, and particularly also for the parents of young children having surgery. Any questions you can ask to give you more peace of mind at this stage are well worth asking. Every member of the Recovery Room Staff is an expert, will understand how you may be feeling, and will be very willing to help in any way that they can. Parents may be asked to give any children patients some oral Panadol prior to arrival at the centre. This will help with pain relief in the early post-operative period. You will also be instructed as to what to do with any normal medications you may be taking. On the day of Surgery your Anaesthetist will meet you in the pre-operative assessment room and ask you questions about your Medical and Anaesthetic history. Here is the time to ask any outstanding questions about your Anaesthetic. Any little children patients are usually well distracted by the toys, books or Play School videos on the TV to what to pay much attention to an Anaesthetist at this stage. Don't worry about even trying to get them to "politely listen" to what the Anaesthetist has to say. Your Anaesthetist has had children too.
Your Anaesthesia
You will walk into the Operating Theatre with your Anaesthetist and you may have some monitoring leads put onto your chest and finger. You will then have a small needle (unless a child) and be off to sleep shortly afterwards Children usually sit with their Anaesthetist and just breathe some pleasant smelling gas from a small mask whilst they try to blow up a balloon and drift off to sleep within a very short time. Modern anaesthetic agents work delightfully quickly.
The Recovery from Anaesthesia
You or your child will wake up in the first Recovery Room with the Sister you met before your operation. Mums or Dads are there as their child wakes up. You may be wearing a plastic Oxygen mask for a short while. You may have an intravenous line in one arm through which intravenous fluid may have been given to help keep you well hydrated during your procedure. Nausea and vomiting are now rare but usually respond well to modern drugs should they occur. Children are commonly quite agitated and hyper-active as they wake up from Anaethesia. This does not mean that they are in pain or discomfort and it usually passes in 10-15 minutes. When you are more awake you will be moved into the second Recovery Room. Here there is another TV and videos and you will be served gourmet sandwiches ,drinks and ice blocks for the kiddies.
After your Anaesthetic
It is important that you do not drive and do take it easy after your Anaesthetic as there will still be some Anaesthetic effects in your body, particularly in the first 24 hours. Before discharge you will be given written instructions as to what to do and who to ring if you have any problems or concerns when you get home. A Sister from the centre will ring you on the day after your operation to ensure everything is going well for you or your child. On the rare occasion that a patient is not well enough to go home at the end of the day after an operation, SENTFDSC has a close relationship with excellent neighbouring hospitals and arrangements will be made for a transfer to one of these for an overnight stay. SENTFDSC is fully equipped to cope with any operative or post-operative complications or emergencies and has attained an impeccable record of patient safety and satisfaction in Anaesthesia as judged by external Auditors and Accreditation Bodies.