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Anesthesia remains a major concern for patients interested in plastic surgery procedures. To help ease the worries before going under the knife, Board Certified Plastic Surgeons recommend that patients conduct research on anesthesia to learn exactly what it entails.

 

It is important for patients to have an understanding of the different types of anesthesia, the risks and recovery, along with important questions to ask a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon during the first consultation. Knowing what is administered can help you before you insist on a specific type, while helping the surgeon and anesthesiologist achieve the best results.

 

Keeping that in mind, the function of anesthesia is quite simple – it aids in alleviating pain during a surgery. Your body cannot tell the difference between a safe incision and a cut wound. That is why as soon as your body is manipulated with any type of cut, your body starts working by increasing your heart rate and aggressively trying to repair the injury. Anesthesia stops your body’s natural defense reaction until the surgery is complete. In other words, it prevents your body from overworking itself. Anesthesia also benefits a patient by making sure they forget about the pain they experienced during surgery, so they can focus on healing after the surgery.

 

 

Local Anesthesiais the type of anesthesia a patient would receive to numb the immediate treatment area. Local anesthesia is usually used for lip augmentation or other injectable procedures.

 

 

Regional anesthesia numbs a particular region of the body without leaving the patient fully unconscious. Regional anesthesia is typically used for some facial surgeries such as brow lifts, lip reduction and lip augmentation, chemical peels, and some liposuction procedures. Regional anesthesia is also referred to as nerve blocks because the anesthetic is injected into a nerve cluster which effects the sensation of all areas controlled by that cluster.

 

 

Sedation can be in the form of gas (laughing gas), oral or intra-venous (IV). Sedation is often given along with local or regional anesthesia. Sedation helps give patients ease of mind, loss of memory, unconsciousness, along with the benefits of pain relief that local and regional anesthesia provide.  It also controls the autonomic functions of your body and impedes bleeding and consequently, bruising. Sedation is typically used during breast augmentation procedures.

 

 

General anesthesia is commonly administered by an inhaled gas or by an IV liquid, separately or simultaneously. General anesthesia works by impairing mobility in the patient and making a patient unconscious, giving patients amnesia effects, and anti-anxiety. General anesthesia is commonly used for patients who undergo liposuction, breast augmentation, facelift surgery and tummy tucks.

 

 

Your personal health history is especially important. Patients with a poor medical background or those who have failed to get proper medical clearance before their surgery can be put at high risk from the effects of anesthesia.

 

Board Certified Los Angeles plastic surgeon Dr. Vishal Kapoor M.D. points out that the serious risks of anesthesia are slim to none, unless a patient has a poor medical history.

 

“Very rarely patients can have adverse reactions to some of the anesthetic agents. Sometimes being under anesthetics for a long period of time, such as 6-8 hours, can put some stress of a person’s heart. Therefore, anybody who has a question of a heart problem surely needs to be thoroughly evaluated before undergoing a general anesthetic,” said Dr. Kapoor.

 

“For a general candidate who is relatively healthy, anesthesia is usually not an issue. If patients are healthy and they don’t have heart or lung problems, the risks of anesthesia are really minimal,” concludes Dr. Kapoor.

 

Patients are strictly required to be monitored on their road to recovery to ensure that any possible adverse reactions are treated immediately.

 

 

By asking simple questions about anesthesia, your mind will be at ease with the procedure.