Anesthesia

What is anesthesia?
Basically speaking, anesthesia is freedom from pain.  Anesthesia is provided at Savoy Medical Center by an anesthesia care team consisting of anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists.  The SMC anesthesia care team will provide anesthesia services to all patients of SMC receiving diagnostic, therapeutic, invasive or surgical procedures.

Are there different kinds of anesthesia?
There are four main categories of anesthesia:

• General anesthesia is a method in which you are rendered unconscious and insensitive to pain.
• Endotracheal intubation (a tube is placed into the windpipe) is often used.
• Regional anesthesia involves the injection of a local anesthetic to provide numbness, absence of pain of loss of sensation to a large region of the body.
• Monitored anesthesia care consists of administering medication intravenously to produce drowsiness and relieve pain.
  Local anesthesia is injected to provide numbness to a small area. 

May I request what type of anesthesia I will receive?
Yes!  Your anesthesiologist, after reviewing your individual situation, will discuss any available options with you.

What are the risks of anesthesia?
All operations and all anesthetics have some risks.  Fortunately, adverse events are very rare.  The specific risks of anesthesia vary with particular procedure and the condition of the patient.  You should ask your anesthesia care team member about any risk that may be associated with your planned anesthetic.

Can I have a labor epidural?
Sure you can!  The anesthesia department works closely with your obstetrician and OB nurses to help make your labor as comfortable and safe as possible.

What is anesthesia awareness?
Anesthesia awareness, also called unintended intraoperative awareness, occurs under general anesthesia when a patient becomes cognizant of some or all events during surgery and has direct recall of those events.  Savoy Medical Center’s Department of Anesthesia uses the BIS monitor by Aspect to measure the brain’s activity during anesthesia thus reducing the risks of anesthesia awareness.  SMC is the only hospital in the area including Alexandria and Lafayette to use this new technology.