I noticed I have over 1000 unique views for this site and I realize there must people visitors outside of my ‘real life’ circle of friends and family. I think that is great! But it also got me thinking that this must be an incredibly boring site for them, so I decided to toss in a post that might hold more of a universal interest. So what do I know that might be interesting to a stranger? My job possibly…

I’m an anesthesiologist by training. And nearly everyday I see patients on their way to get some type of surgery done. I’ve always taken my job very seriously and thought of my self as a patient advocate. I mean as well meaning as they are, surgeons are well…..single minded in what they do. Basically their solution to everything involves some sort of cutting tool. But anyway, my job is to keep patients “safe” while they’re busy cutting and cauterizing away. Sometimes it’s very hard to keep a patient alive and stable when such invasive procedures are performed. Not only that but I have to keep the patient asleep and comfortable while all of this is done. Not an easy feat when one considers what types of diseases we come up against. I’ve decided that my role is to protect the patient from the stresses of surgery as best I can while optimizing his/her current medical problems.

So it always comes as a surprise to me when patients tell me they are more afraid of the anesthesia than they are of the surgery. This isn’t an uncommon feeling among people either. Whether its brain surgery, heart surgery or even labor, people are afraid of going under even if it is what they want. I can’t think of anything worse than undergoing surgery without anesthesia, but then again if I didn’t need it I wouldn’t want it either. So some tips for people who are soon to have surgery:

1. Don’t eat anything 8 hours before your scheduled surgery. This is just a guideline but it is necessary because aspiration can cause major harm. Aspiration is basically getting undigested food down into your lungs which can happen when you drift off to sleep. Your esophagus can relax and you don’t realize you are aspirating so you don’t protect your airway. Small sips of water are okay with medications.
2. Always clarify what medications you should take before surgery with your doctor. Much of the time it shouldn’t affect the surgery or anesthesia too much but we do want you to be ‘optimized’ for surgery. Which means keeping your blood pressure down, controlling your diabetes, etc.
3. The majority of surgeries will require you to stop your blood thinning medications. Things like coumadin and plavix should be stopped several days before the procedure. Check to make sure that you should be off those medications as there are times when we don’t want them stopped.
4. If you have any allergies tell the anesthesiologist. We’ll be sure to avoid those meds intra operatively.
5. It is very important to find out if you ever had any problems with anesthesia in the past. History of poor reaction to anesthesia or difficult intubation are key to managing future or current anesthesia. There are things we can do differently and special equipment we can use to help avoid those problems.
6. Be sure to ask questions if you have them! As hectic as it seems in the holding area the anesthesiologist will always have time to answer them.

Well these are just a few of the simple things I can think of. I’ll be sure to write more entries about the topic as I get time.