• What are the risks of anesthesia?
• What about eating or drinking before my anesthesia?
• Should I take my usual medicines?
• Could herbal medicines and other dietary supplements affect my anesthesia if I need surgery?
• What makes office-based anesthesia different?
• How is the epidural block performed for labor and delivery?
• What is patient awareness?

What are the risks of anesthesia?

All operations and all anesthesia have some risks. They are dependent upon many factors, including the type of surgery and the medical condition of the patient. Fortunately, adverse events are very rare. Your anesthesiologist takes precautions to prevent an accident from occurring just as you do when driving a car or crossing the street.

The specific risks of anesthesia vary with the particular procedure and the condition of the patient. You should ask your anesthesiologist about any risks that may be associated with your anesthesia.

What about eating or drinking before my anesthesia?

As a general rule, you should not eat or drink anything after midnight before your surgery. Under some circumstances, you may be given permission by your anesthesiologist to drink clear liquids up to a few hours before your anesthesia.

Should I take my usual medicines?

Some medications should be taken and others should not. It is important to discuss this with your anesthesiologists. Do not interrupt medications unless your anesthesiologist or surgeon recommends it.

Could herbal medicines and other dietary supplements affect my anesthesia if I need surgery?

Anesthesiologists are conducting research to determine exactly how certain herbs and dietary supplements interact with certain anesthetics. They are finding that certain herbal medicines may prolong the effects of anesthesia. Others may increase the risks of bleeding or raise blood pressure. Some effects may be subtle and less critical, but for anesthesiologists anticipating a possible reaction is better than reacting to an unexpected condition. So it is very important to tell your doctor about everything you take before surgery.

What makes office-based anesthesia different?

There is one fundamental and very important difference between office-based anesthesia and receiving anesthesia in a hospital or ambulatory surgical center. The strict, well-defined standards and regulations that keep surgery and anesthesia very safe in hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers do not uniformly apply to physician offices in the United States.

How is the epidural block performed for labor and delivery?

An epidural block is given in the lower back. You will either be sitting up or lying on your side. The block is administered below the level of the spinal cord. The anesthesiologist will use a local anesthesia to numb an area of your lower back. A special needle is placed in the epidural space just outside the spinal sac.

What is patient awareness?

Although awareness during anesthesia is extremely rare, a brochure was created by the American Society of Anesthesiologists due to controversy surrounding a few isolated incidences of awareness and recent media  attention given to brain-wave monitoring technology. It addresses questions patients can ask their physicians about awareness, the important role anesthesiologists play during surgical procedures and the latest science behind  brain-wave monitoring. 

Read the American Society of Anesthesiologists patient awareness brochure.