MGH Orthopaedic Ambulatory Surgery Center General Anesthesia

General Anesthesia

General Anesthesia is an anesthetic technique in which the patient's body is insensate to surgical pain while the patient is totally unconscious during the surgery.

On arrival to the prep area at the ASC you will meet the members of the anesthesia care team, a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) and the attending anesthesiologist. The risks and benefits of the procedure will be discussed with you before you sign your consent. Once the surgeon, operating room (OR) and OR team are ready, you will then proceed to the operating room.

You will be asked to move onto the operating room table, then usual monitors will be attached: a blood pressure cuff, a light sensor to measure your blood oxygen level will be attached to your finger, and EKG leads will be placed on your chest. You will receive some sedation through your intravenous, which will help you relax while the monitors are being attached.

The Anesthesia care team will tell you to take a couple of deep breaths of oxygen. They will then place medication into your intravenous to start the general anesthesia. You may feel a warm burning sensation at the intravenous site when this medicine is injected which is normal. Once you are a sleep a breathing tube will be placed into the back of your mouth or windpipe. The general anesthesia will then be maintained with a mixture of pain medicine and anesthetic gases breathed into your lungs. Your vital sign will continually be monitored throughout the anesthetic.

Once the surgical procedure is complete, the breathing tube will be removed and the anesthetic gases shut off. As you breath off the anesthetic gases you will gradually wake up.

You will then be transferred to the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit and your care will be transferred to the PACU nurses. What patients remember of the experience is quite variable. You may remember waking up in the OR or you may not even recall your PACU stay due to the amnestic effects of the anesthetic medicines.

As with any anesthetic, there are inherent risks associated with general anesthesia and fortunately serious complications are extremely rare. Prior to signing your consent the anesthesiologist will ask you if you understand the common and uncommon risks, side effects, and possible complications of general anesthesia listed on the anesthesia consent form. He or she will also answer any questions you may have.