The five-second way to "fall asleep" has been found, and it is - ask the anesthesiologist to give you a needle.
Of course, this is a joke. But aren't you curious about what happened to our bodies when we were under general anesthesia? Does general anesthesia make our heads "melons"? Are there any side effects? Is the low back pain after giving birth to a baby a "pot" of anesthesia?...... Let's make it clear in today's article.
General anesthesia is "sleep fragment"?
The anesthesiologist runs away after a stitch?
General anesthesia in the eyes of some patients: get a needle and sleep. I don't know what happened in the middle, but I feel that time flies by with a "whoosh", and the years are quiet.
护士给等待内镜检查的病人麻醉Nurse giving anesthesia to patient
As the saying goes, when you feel that the years are quiet, it means that someone is carrying the weight for you.
This person is the anesthesiologist who is guarding the operating table with an anesthesia machine, monitor, tracheal intubation equipment, narcotic drugs, rescue drugs, etc.
And general anesthesia is really not deep sleep, patients with general anesthesia have no consciousness, no breathing, no protective reflex, heart rate slows, blood pressure drops, muscle relaxation......
Today we will take you to see what real general anesthesia looks like.
If you are going to undergo a general anesthesia operation, then the day before the operation: the anesthesiologist will generally conduct a preoperative visit the day before the surgery to make an overall "grasp" of your physical condition, determine the possible risk factors during the operation, and formulate an anesthesia plan for the next day.
On the day of surgery: The anesthesiologist always arrives at the operating room early, debugs and checks the normal operation of anesthesia-related equipment, prepares medicines and supplies, etc., and communicates with you to relieve your nervousness.
Then, anesthesia begins, and your body goes through three phases:
The first stage: the induction period
The combined effect of several drugs, like a "combination punch", brings you from the awake state to the anesthetic state.
These drugs include:
- Sedative-hypnotic: Consciousness escapes
- Analgesics: The pain goes away
- Muscle relaxants: muscle relaxation
Phase 2: Maintenance period
At this point, your breathing stops and consciousness disappears...... It looks like "asleep".
Throughout the procedure, the anesthesiologist will always be by your side, "seeing six ways and listening to all directions". Keep an eye on your blood pressure, pulse, breathing, blood oxygen, ...... And continue to provide you with respiratory support and anesthetic drugs to ensure that you will not be hypoxic, and you can be in a state of anesthesia, and your body can always maintain "balance" without problems. If there are some critical situations during the operation, such as heavy bleeding, cardiac arrest, etc., the anesthesiologist should also take charge of the overall situation and quickly carry out rescue and resuscitation work.
The third stage: the awakening period
The anesthesiologist stops administering the drug, the anesthetic drug is metabolized in the body, and when you open your eyes, the anesthesiologist's little flower hat comes into view: "Are you awake?"
After the operation, the anesthesiologist will not leave immediately after the operation, and will continue to pay attention to your consciousness, breathing, circulation, pain and other physiological indicators, so that abnormal conditions can be detected and treated in time.
Before surgery under general anesthesia
Do you really want to skip eating and drinking?
After anesthesia, the patient's autonomic reflexes, such as choking and swallowing, are temporarily gone, and if there is something in the stomach, it may regurgitate up to the throat and then from the throat to the lungs, which may lead to aspiration pneumonia and even life-threatening. Therefore, the fasting prescribed by the anesthesiologist before surgery is really important!
The "2-4-6-8" principle recommended by the International Guidelines for Fasting and Drinking must be strictly followed.
2 hours before surgery: Do not drink clear drinks, such as plain water, sugar water and other clear liquids
4 hours before surgery: Breastfeeding is prohibited for newborns, infants and young children
6 hours before surgery: Avoid foods with less solids or fats that are easily digestible, such as milk, formula, bread, noodles, etc
8 hours before surgery: Avoid indigestible foods with high solids, fats and proteins, such as meat and fried
What should I do if I am hungry?
Don't panic, the doctor will give intravenous water and energy according to the patient's specific situation to avoid starvation and fainting.
And now, with the development of technology, two hours before surgery, patients can drink some nutrient solution prepared by the hospital's nutrition department to help recover as soon as possible after surgery.
Can I take the medicine normally?
If you are a patient with some underlying diseases, the anesthesiologist will also tell you before the operation, which medicines to continue to take and which ones not to take, and it does not matter if you drink one or two sips of water to take the medicine.
These rumors about anesthesia
Is it real or fake?
1
Does general anesthesia make the head a "melon"?
None of the current studies have found any effect of anesthesia on the IQ of adults.
There may be some impact on children under the age of 3, and parents can consider whether to postpone surgery after the age of 3 according to the actual situation of the child.
If it is some emergency, serious illness and other surgery that requires immediate life-saving surgery, it is impossible for the child to be awake to receive the operation, and the advantages actually outweigh the disadvantages.
2
There are side effects of anesthesia, so can you not get a shot without it?
A person who can perform surgery awakely, there is one in martial arts novels, and he is the protagonist, called Aotian.
But life is not a novel after all, and it usually hurts so much that your toes hit the cabinet, let alone be sober and let the doctor "scrape the bones and heal".
In fact, anesthetic drugs are very short-acting, which can make people fall asleep quickly and wake up quickly, and this short-acting drug is quickly metabolized and has almost no effect on the body.
Some friends and young women with motion sickness may experience postoperative nausea and vomiting, but after the preoperative evaluation by the anesthesiologist, certain measures can be taken to prevent it.
3
After giving birth, the back pain is related to anesthesia?
Caesarean section is generally performed under local anesthesia (neuraxial anesthesia), which is a needle at the suture of the lumbar spine, and the needle itself is relatively small and will not cause the entire low back pain.
After giving birth, the back pain may be caused by the changes in the woman's pelvis and spine caused by the pregnancy itself, or some incorrect posture, bending over for a long time to change diapers, etc.
4
There may be a "social death" scene of "gibberish" after general anesthesia?
This is true, the professional term is delirium, some patients in the anesthesia recovery period, when the drug has not been completely metabolized, consciousness has not been fully restored, delirium may occur, in addition to the possibility of causing "social death" scenes, the problem is not big, just sober.
Finally, I would like to introduce you to the often misunderstood anesthesia clinic.
What you think of as an anesthesia clinic: "Doctor, I'll prescribe some anesthetics", but actually an anesthesia clinic that helps you adjust your physical condition to the best for surgery. Patients who are planning day surgery (such as vocal cord polyps, inguinal hernia surgery, etc.) and those who are going to have painless examinations or treatments are required to hang up in an anesthesia clinic before the surgery.
bibliography
[1] Deng Xiaoming, Wang Yuelan, Feng Yi, et al.(bronchoscopy) expert consensus on sedation/anesthesia in tracheoscopy diagnosis and treatment (2020 edition)[J].International Journal of Anesthesiology and Resuscitation, 2021, 42(8):10.DOI:10.3760/cma.j.cn321761-20210416-00340.
[2] Warner M A , Caplan R A , Epstein B S ,et al. Practice Guidelines for Preoperative Fasting and the Use of Pharmacologic Agents to Reduce the Risk of Pulmonary Aspiration: Application to Healthy Patients Undergoing Elective Procedures[J]. Survey of Anesthesiology, 2000, 44(1):47-48.DOI:10.1097/00132586-200002000-00048.
Planning and production
Source丨West China Doctor, Popular Science China
Audit丨Yu Hai, Deputy Director of the Anesthesia Surgery Center of West China Hospital, Sichuan University
Liang Xiao is the attending physician of the Anesthesia Surgery Center of West China Hospital of Sichuan University