What will the patient experience during anesthesia?

Anesthesia is used in all major surgeries, which can make people feel no pain temporarily and facilitate the smooth operation. Many people think that anesthesia is like sleeping, and the operation is completed when they wake up. But in fact, under normal circumstances, various parts of the brain are communicating. When anesthetized, the information in the brain will become calm, and the communication between brains will become slower. The so-called "communication barrier" cannot be solved simply by "sleeping". So what did the patients experience during this period? Let us reveal it together.

1. Definition of general anesthesia

General anesthesia is the process of injecting anesthetic drugs into the patient's body through respiratory inhalation, intravenous injection, intramuscular injection, etc., thereby producing temporary inhibition of the central nervous system, causing the patient to enter an unconscious state and eliminating systemic pain, inhibiting various reflexes, and facilitating doctors to perform surgical operations.

II. Patients’ Experience with General Anesthesia

1. Before anesthesia

Before anesthesia, patients need to cooperate with doctors to understand their own physical conditions and provide information for doctors to develop the best anesthesia plan. Patients need to understand the precautions and risks during anesthesia, express their understanding and support, and sign for confirmation. Before anesthesia, patients also need to follow the doctor's orders to fast and not drink, and fast for 6-8 hours before anesthesia. However, infants and young children need to shorten the fasting and not drinking time appropriately to reduce restlessness, nausea and vomiting in infants and young children.

2. During anesthesia

During the anesthesia stage, the patient needs to maintain the surgical position on the operating table and cooperate with professional doctors to wear ECG monitoring equipment, blood pressure monitors, oxygen masks, etc. After the preparation is completed, anesthesia will be performed. During anesthesia, the patient's body will go through three different stages.

1. Anesthesia induction phase

During the anesthesia induction phase, the patient will enter an anesthetized state from a conscious state, and the doctor will inject an appropriate amount of anesthetic drugs into the patient's body through different methods. Under the action of anesthetic drugs, the brain's electrical signals are blocked, and the patient will slowly lose consciousness, and the breathing rate will decrease until spontaneous breathing stops, the muscles gradually relax, and the pain disappears. During this period, medical staff need to insert a tracheal tube into the patient's trachea and use an anesthesia machine to replace the patient's spontaneous breathing to maintain normal body functions. In addition, the anesthesiologist will monitor the patient's vital signs, constantly adjust the depth of anesthesia, and be ready to deal with emergencies at any time.

2. Anesthesia maintenance phase

During the anesthesia maintenance phase, patients need to be continuously infused with anesthetic drugs to maintain anesthesia. The amount of anesthetic drugs needs to be adjusted according to the operation time and the patient's condition. The anesthesiologist will use a variety of auxiliary drugs to adjust the patient's blood pressure, heart rate and other indicators to maintain the stability of the patient's vital signs. During the anesthesia maintenance phase, the patient's spontaneous breathing disappears and needs to rely entirely on the ventilator to help breathe. At this time, the person has no response to pain stimulation, which is conducive to the doctor's successful completion of the operation. Patients with underlying diseases may experience more risks. For example, patients with hypertension may have cerebrovascular accidents such as cerebral hemorrhage and cerebral infarction during anesthesia maintenance; patients with lung diseases may have emphysema and incomplete recovery of respiratory function, and need to continue to use ventilators for assistance; for patients with heart disease, anesthetic drugs may affect heart function, thereby inducing the risk of heart disease. This requires a detailed assessment of the patient's heart function before anesthesia, adjusting the dose and type of anesthesia, and minimizing the risk of anesthesia. Anesthesiologists need to deal with emergencies such as massive bleeding and drug allergic reactions that may occur during surgery to ensure patient safety.

3. Anesthesia recovery stage

The anesthesia awakening stage is the process from the cessation of anesthetic drug supply to the patient's complete awakening. When the anesthetic drug is stopped, the patient's body will gradually metabolize and excrete the drug, the anesthetic concentration will gradually decrease, the patient's consciousness will gradually recover, and spontaneous breathing will resume. Some patients will experience shortness of breath or discomfort during awakening, and need to perform deep breathing exercises with the help of a doctor to promote the recovery of lung function. During this period, it is still necessary to monitor the patient's vital signs, remove the endotracheal tube, and send the patient to the anesthesia recovery room. The anesthesia recovery period will take 10 to 30 minutes before the patient can be completely out of danger. When the patient gradually wakes up and regains consciousness, there will be no memory of the anesthesia period. Many patients will experience symptoms such as vomiting and nausea due to the stimulation of anesthetic drugs after surgery, mainly because the drugs stimulate the patient's vomiting center. Some patients will experience symptoms such as unclear language, uncoordinated behavior, and hallucinations during the period when the drug is not completely metabolized, but as the drug is gradually metabolized, the patient will return to normal within a few hours or days. Although anesthesia is relatively safe, it does not rule out the risk of brain complications in some patients after surgery. Therefore, if the patient has an abnormal reaction after anesthesia, it is necessary to inform the doctor in time and deal with it as soon as possible.

3. After anesthesia

After anesthesia, the patient is in the anesthesia recovery room during the recovery period. After the patient wakes up, a doctor needs to assess the awakening situation, and then the nurse will send the patient to the general ward. The patient needs to listen carefully to the precautions given by the medical staff and do a good job of self-care after anesthesia. After anesthesia, the patient needs to maintain a good posture, generally keeping the head slightly tilted to one side to prevent aspiration of vomit. In addition, the patient generally cannot eat immediately after anesthesia. It is necessary to wait until the gastrointestinal function recovers after exhausting, and take a small amount of warm liquid food. Then gradually transition to a normal diet. Patients undergoing abdominal surgery need to extend the fasting time appropriately. Patients need to get out of bed as soon as possible with the permission of the doctor, which is very beneficial for increasing the depth of breathing, improving blood circulation, restoring gastrointestinal function, and improving appetite. And it can prevent various complications well, and it also plays a certain role in accelerating the recovery of the wound. In addition, patients need to maintain adequate rest after anesthesia surgery to provide the necessary conditions for physical recovery.

summary

The anesthesia process seems simple, but in fact, all tissues in our body are experiencing challenges to varying degrees. It is not as simple as sleeping, but there is no need to worry too much. The anesthesiologists and doctors will escort us throughout the process. During the anesthesia process, we need to cooperate with the doctor to take precautions before anesthesia, actively cooperate with physical examinations, understand the risks during anesthesia, fast and abstain from food and drink before surgery, inform the doctor of our medication history and allergy history in advance, and have professionals help us assess the anesthesia risks and develop anesthesia plans so that we can safely spend the anesthesia period.

Author: Luo Liu Zhuzhou Hospital Affiliated to Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University