What is anesthesia?
What is anesthesiology?
The term
Anesthesia was first used by Oliver Wendell
Holmes, Jr. in 1846, and can refer to either
the state of a patient under the influence
of anesthesia or to the actual combination
of medications used to induce the state of
anesthesia in a patient. The goal of
general anesthesia is to produce a state
where the patient is pain free, asleep,
without any memory of the surgery,
motionless, and unresponsive to pain. A
combination of different medications are
used to block the perception of
pain(analgesia), cause
unconsciousness(hypnosis), block the memory
of surgery(amnesia), relax the muscles and
prevent movement, and block autonomic
nervous system responses to pain such as
increases in heart rate and blood pressure.
Other forms of anesthesia which directly
block nerve transmission of pain or motion
involve the use of local anesthesia, in
nerve blocks, epidural or spinal anesthesia.
Anesthesiology is the practice of medicine
dedicated to the relief of pain and total
care of the surgical patient before, during
and after surgery. (references-ASA website,
wikipedia.org, Webster.com)
Who performs my
anesthesia?
We work in an
Anesthesia Care Team (ACT) model at both
Craven Regional Medical Center (CRMC) and at
the Craven Surgery Center (CSC). That means
that both an anesthesiologist and a
certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA)
will be working together to take care of
you. At all times, one or the other is in
the operating room with you, monitoring your
heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and
making sure that you are asleep and
comfortable. At critical times, both are
with you.
What is a CRNA?
A CRNA is a
certified registered nurse anesthetist. This
person is a registered nurse who has pursued
additional specialty training, usually 2 ½
years and a Master’s Degree in Nurse
Anesthesia. They work with an
anesthesiologist as a team to give you a
safe, high quality anesthetic.
What is the difference
between an MD and a DO?
Both are
Doctors. An MD is an allopathic Medical
Doctor. He or she has gone through 4 years
of college, 4 years of medical school and a
specialty residency of 4 years. A DO is a
Doctor of Osteopathic medicine. A DO has 4
years of college training, 4 years of
Medical school at a school of osteopathy,
which teaches the same courses as an
allopathic MD’s medical school plus courses
in skeletal manipulation. A DO also
completes a 4-year specialty residency. The
two are equally qualified to practice
medicine and anesthesiology.
Why isn’t the
anesthesiologist with me during the entire
surgery?
As a part of
the ACT, your anesthesiologist may be
responsible for more than one patient at a
time. The anesthesiologist may have to
prepare the next patient for anesthesia, or
continue care for the previous patient in
the recovery room. When the anesthesiologist
is not in the operating room with you, there
will always be another qualified anesthesia
provider, usually a CRNA, caring for you in
the operating room. Your anesthesiologist
is still responsible for you, routinely
checks on you, and is always immediately
available to care for you.
Why isn’t the
anesthesiologist who took my medical information
with me during my surgery?
The
anesthesiologists of New Bern Anesthesia
cover two locations, both the CRMC and CSC.
At both places, an anesthesiologist may
interview you on a day prior to your
surgery, and then on the day of your
surgery, that anesthesiologist may be
scheduled at the other location, or may have
the day off, or may be scheduled to work in
a different operating room. Though a
patient may request a particular
anesthesiologist, these requests cannot
always be honored due to such scheduling
conflicts.
I want an epidural for
the delivery of my baby. How do I contact you?
Your
obstetrician will refer you for a
preoperative obstetric anesthesia
consultation—an epidural consult. This
should be done after 7 months gestational
age but before your last month. We see
referred patients at the Craven Surgery
Center (633-2000). During the interview you
will be shown a video about epidural
anesthesia for labor. An anesthesiologist
will ask you questions about your health,
and explain the anesthesia options to you
and answer any questions you may have. You
must have an epidural consult
before the day of delivery or we cannot
perform an epidural for your birth process.
So please make sure to have a consult done,
if you are planning on having epidural
anesthesia for your delivery. If a consult
is not done, the labor nurses and
obstetrician will still treat you labor pain
with intravenous pain relievers.
Why did the
anesthesiologist request an EKG or chest x-ray?
Depending on
your underlying medical illnesses or
history, the anesthesiologist will need an
ECG or chest x-ray to evaluate your heart
and lungs and as a baseline to refer to
during or after surgery. These studies are
ordered based on well-recognized guidelines.
What medications should
I take on the day of surgery?
If you take
several medications, you will probably be
referred for a preoperative anesthesia
consult. During this interview, the
anesthesiologist will discuss which specific
medications you should take and not take on
the morning of surgery. As a general rule
you should take all of your usual medicines
the night before surgery. Usually on the
morning of surgery, you should take your
blood pressure pills, but not take your
diabetes pills. Often you can take your pain
relievers and anti-anxiety medications.
Frequently, your surgeon will ask you to
stop taking your blood thinners several days
before surgery, in order to prevent blood
loss.
Why can’t I eat before
surgery?
In order to
reduce the risk of nausea and vomiting after
anesthesia, we require that patients
do not eat or drink from the
night before surgery. For children, Type I
diabetics, late in the day surgery patients,
some exceptions may be made if cleared
previously with the anesthesiologist. Your
surgeon will supply the rules to you at your
preop visit.
Your elective
surgery will be cancelled or postponed if
you eat or drink anything (including gum,
mints, water) prior to surgery due to the
risk or aspiration and death.
I am very anxious about
my surgery and anesthesia. Are there any
medications that I can take before surgery to
help with my anxiety?
If you are
already on anti-anxiety medications, you may
take them on the morning of surgery with a
sip of water. We do not routinely prescribe
anti-anxiety medicines for you to take at
home before for surgery. Once you arrive in
the preoperative area after the
anesthesiologist and nurses have talked with
you, you will be given IV sedatives to help
you relax prior to go into the operating
room.
My surgeon told me that
you would be providing pain control after
surgery. What kinds of medications will you use
to control my pain?
Surgeons
frequently manage your pain after surgery
with both narcotic and non-narcotic
medications. These can be given by mouth,
as a shot, through your IV, or using a PCA
pump with a button for you to push for
medication. Depending on the type of
surgery, your surgeon may consult us to
provide your pain relief after surgery. This
can be done using spinal narcotics, epidural
anesthetics, or local anesthesia nerve
blocks. The appropriate choice can be made
with your input at your anesthesia interview
or on the morning of surgery.
I woke up really cold
after my last surgery, why?
Anesthesia
dilates the blood vessels in the skin, and
causes the body to lose heat. In an effort
to warm itself, the body shivers after
anesthesia. We try to minimize this by
using warming blankets in the operating room
and post anesthesia care unit.
Will anesthesia make my
hair fall out?
Anesthesia
does not make a person’s hair fall out.
However some people who have poor scalp
circulation may be at risk for hair loss
after prolonged anesthesia due to their head
lying in one position for a long surgery.
For
other questions about anesthesia and
anesthesiology got to the website for the
American Society of Anesthesiologists (insert
link here.
http://www.asahq.org/patientEducation.htm
Financial questions
How much are you going
to charge for my anesthesia?
Anesthesia
charges are based on the complexity of the
surgery and the actual time that it took to
perform the surgery, so they cannot be
calculated in advance. An average charge can
be estimated, but the actual charge is
dependent on how long your surgeon takes to
do the surgery.
Do I have to pay for
anesthesia?
Yes,
anesthesia is a medical service provided for
your comfort and safety. Anesthesiology
charges are often covered by health
insurance plans to the same degree as other
medical services. Often you are responsible
for a partial co-payment. If it is not
covered by your insurance plan then you will
receive a bill from NBAA for the full
anesthesiologist charge.
Who do I have to pay
for anesthesia? Why do I get more than one bill?
You may
receive more than one bill for anesthesia,
if you have more than one anesthesia service
provided, for instance, general anesthesia
and a nerve block. Also you may receive a
bill from CRMC with anesthesia charges
listed, in addition to a NBAA bill. The
CRMC bill for anesthesia charges includes
the cost of the medications, anesthesia
equipment, and CRNA charges. The CRMC bill
does not include the NBAA anesthesiologist
fee, and CRMC does not pay your NBAA
anesthesiologist for you, so you may have
more than one bill to pay.
How do I pay my NBAA
anesthesiology bill?
You can contact us, or
directly contact the billing company,
Atlantic Carolina Healthcare Consultants and
Billing at their Website
www.achcb.com
or telephone (252) 633-6117.
