What You Need to Know About Surgical Anesthesia

With surgical procedures becoming ever safer and more effective, many of the surgeries Dr. Szymanski performs are now handled in an outpatient surgery center, also known as an ambulatory surgery center. This allows for a quicker, more personalized recovery process and avoids the overnight stays in a hospital that were once the norm. While the procedures have been optimized and improved tremendously over the years, you will still require anesthesia during your procedure.

For some procedures, a local or regional anesthetic may be administered. This means that you are not fully asleep; rather the area being treated is numbed so that you feel no pain during the procedure. However, certain procedures may require deep sedation or general anesthesia, which are slightly more involved and come with greater risk.

Before surgery, you may need to undergo testing to ensure the risks associated with anesthesia are not unacceptably high. These may include cardiac and pulmonary tests. You may also need to adjust your medication, lose some weight and certainly stop smoking. Patients with general health issues and those of advanced age are also at a higher risk of problems due to anesthesia. Lastly, if you’ve experienced any unusual reactions to anesthesia in the past, please be forthcoming with Dr. Szymanski during your consultation so that we may properly assess these risks.

With all that being said, the risks of anesthesia are extremely low and our preoperative work up process is thorough. We encourage you to have a frank conversation with us if you have any concerns about your procedure, but rest assured that we will take every reasonable precaution to ensure the safety and effectiveness of your procedure.