For many reasons, general anesthesia allows the best management of patients by the medical team. The general anesthetic protects a patient’s airway during surgery so they have an adequate gas exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide from their blood through the anesthesia machine. It also abolishes patient movement and avoids distraction of the surgeon. When compared to patients who are awake, aware or under conscious-sedation drugs, the level of motion, especially around the eye area, is still a consideration for those having eye and face procedures.
Many patients also prefer it, because they like that they can emerge from a procedure with only the recollection of getting a little medicine in their vein. Most patients awaken from surgery very comfortable and feeling like only a few minutes have gone by. I choose to take the highest level of professional management by delegating anesthesia
considerations only to board-certified anesthesiologists who utilize very short-acting medications both through the vein and inhaled through the lungs. They monitor the surgery from start to finish to maintain beautiful level of sedation and anesthesia so that I can perform surgery with the best physiology parameters.
In the case of procedures that can be performed safely under local anesthesia in the office, I provide local anesthetic in order to “block” the area that is being worked upon that adds to your sense of well-being and comfort after the anesthesia wears off. Expert and effective anesthesia care will increase the patient’s safety and improve peri-operative outcomes in patient satisfaction.
