Anesthesia

Anesthesia is the use of medicines to control pain and keep you safe and comfortable during a procedure or surgery. It blocks pain and may also make you relaxed, sleepy, or forgetful. Or it can make you unconscious for your procedure or surgery.

Types of anesthesia

The types of anesthesia include:

• Sedation. It's medicine that helps you relax or fall asleep. It may be used with other medicine to control pain.
• Local. It's medicine that numbs a small part of the body.
• Regional. It's medicine that blocks pain to a larger area of your body. Some types of regional anesthesia include:
  • Peripheral nerve blocks. This is a shot of medicine to block pain around a specific nerve or group of nerves. Blocks are often used for procedures on the hands, arms, feet, legs, or face.
  • Spinal and epidural. These are shots of medicine near the spinal cord and the nerves that connect to it. They block pain from an entire region of the body, such as the belly, hips, or legs.
• General. It's medicine that affects your whole body. You're unconscious during the procedure or surgery.

What to tell your doctor

Tell the provider about any health problems you have, such as sleep apnea. Talk about any past surgeries and if a family member had problems with anesthesia. Let them know if you're pregnant. Also tell them if you smoke, vape, or use other tobacco or nicotine products, drink alcohol, or use drugs. Give them a list of all medicines, vitamins, supplements, and herbal remedies you take.

Risks

Serious problems from anesthesia aren't common, especially in people who are in good health.

But all anesthesia has some risk. For example:

• After general anesthesia, nausea and a sore throat can occur. In rare cases, heart or breathing problems can occur.
• After spinal or epidural anesthesia, some people get headaches. In rare cases, heart or breathing problems or nerve damage can occur.
• After any type of anesthesia, older adults may have problems with confusion or memory loss. This usually gets better with time.

Your risk depends on the type of anesthesia you get, your age and health, and how you respond to the medicines.

Some health conditions increase your risk of problems. Examples include smoking, obesity, and health conditions like sleep apnea and heart or lung problems. Taking certain medicines can raise your risk for problems. So can smoking, drinking alcohol, and using drugs.

Your doctor or nurse will talk with you about your options and the risks of anesthesia.