When you make up your mind to go through breast augmentation surgery, you need to know that some form of anesthesia is important. An anesthesia helps to bring up a temporary induced state that shuts your pain feeling tendency, induce unconsciousness, amnesia, and muscle relaxation. For surgeries, often doctors may prescribe one of the types of anesthesia, including general, sedation, local, and regional.
However, for a breast augmentation in Atlanta, general anesthesia is the type you are likely to have for the procedure. When you plan your breast, implant or lift surgery, remember that it is highly important that you consult a certified anesthesiologist or a registered nurse during the surgery.
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Why Should You Choose General Anesthesia?
Local anesthesia doesn’t affect your entire body, but just a specific area. However, general anesthesia has an effect on your entire body. With a general anesthesia, it is a guarantee that you will not feel any pain during the surgical procedure. Depending on the type of Crispin Plastic Surgery or procedure, you and your surgeon may choose a different anesthesia like a local one. It is important that your surgeon evaluates your overall health and you should go for the preference of your doctor.
What is a General Anesthesia?
At the time of surgery, general anesthesia may be inhaled as gases, liquids via IV, or could be as both. When you are under the effects of general anesthesia, it produces a state of unconsciousness, making you pain-free, unaware, and immobile. It shuts your mind from your surrounding and erases any memory of the time you spend under the anesthesia. To produce anesthesia, various gases and drugs can be used in conjunction with many others or alone.
Outpatient or ambulatory anesthesia is specially tailored to meet the specific and precise needs of your particular surgery and allows you to go home soon afterward. Short-acting and specialized surgical anesthetics help to promote effective, comfortable and an effective experience.
What to Expect from the General Anesthesia
When your surgeons put you under general anesthesia, it is common to aid the delivery of the gases and ventilation through an endotracheal tube, or the ETT (sometimes ET). After sedation, surgeons insert the tube into you and remove it upon you waking up. For about a day or two after waking up, it is not uncommon to feel a bit of a sore throat. For most people, the tube causes irritation in the throat hence making it sore. Many times, patients don’t even know that they had tubes in them until they ask their surgeon.
Sometimes, an LMA or Laryngeal Mask Airway, which is a silicone mask for the management of upper airway, is used as an alternative to the ETT. It helps to provide an end-to-end connection between the artificial and natural airway. Compared to the endotracheal tube, LMA is less invasive and provides a more effective seal tan the facemask. While you are under the effects of anesthesia, rest assured that your heart rhythm, your nurse or anesthesiologist monitor oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, blood pressure, and heart rate continuously.
Possible Side Effects
When waking from the general anesthesia, this can be a scary and sometimes strange feeling for some patients. Some may feel extremely intoxicated and upon waking up, you would feel like you really want to sleep back again. For most, staying awake is a challenge.
Vomiting and nausea are possible side effects you may encounter from the effects of general anesthesia. However, the majority of specialists add anti-nausea medicines intravenously during the surgical procedure. This helps to prevent or limit these side effects. Fever is also a common experience, or you may have an elevated blood pressure or heart rate. Sometimes, allergic reactions or a sore throat is common. A few serious side effects that you may experience or feel include:
- Damage to the lips and teeth
- Malignant hyperthermia
- Infection
- Stroke or heart attack (rare)
- Aspiration (occurs when a liquid or object is inhaled into the respiratory tract)
- Systemic toxicity (also rare)
Rest assured that about one in 250,000 people might die from possible complications of general anesthesia. For people with serious medical conditions, the risks can be greater.
The use of general anesthesia or IV sedation is often a common and convenient choice for surgeons. However, what really matters to any surgeon is the patient’s choice in view and their experience (if any with previous surgeries). For the majority, general anesthesia is a preferred choice because of its faster and easier recovery. With fewer chances of prolonged after surgery sedation and no awareness during the procedure, you can rely on general anesthesia for any surgical procedure including breast lift surgery, tummy tucks, and others.
Just take your time and research on which doctor to choose for your surgical needs. Be sure that you and your surgeon and both comfortable the option suitable for you.