Our anesthetist talks about interesting tips and facts related to anesthesia in the different stages of your surgery: before, during and after. Learn about medication intake recommendations and the recovery from anesthesia process in this video.
Moderator: Hi, everybody. I'm here with Alexandra. She's a CRNA here at Avana Plastic Surgery. Hi. Good morning.- She also wanted to discuss a couple of things that are very important for our patients regarding anesthesia on the day of their surgery. Please discuss with us a little bit about the process, once the patient comes in, the consult, what is it that you're looking for, and how do you keep a patient safe and comfortable during anesthesia?
CRNA: Okay. First and foremost, you have to remember not to eat or drink anything from midnight before the day of your surgery. That's of the utmost importance.
- However, if you have medications that you have to take, like if you have high blood pressure, do take that medication with a little sip of water. You also have to remember that when people tell you not to take medicine, sometimes we forget what medicines are.
- Let's just give a very easy example that I found a lot; Venturin. It's a medication that you take to lose weight. It's not medication. But guess what? It comes back positive in our drug test, and we can't do your surgery.
- So it's very important that when they tell you not to take medicine 2 weeks before surgery, it's for certain reasons. So make sure to go through all your medicines. Tell them what you're on and what you're not on so that when you get here, your surgery isn't canceled because of that.
Moderator: And can you go just, very quickly into the medication or drugs that we look for and our definite no no for surgery?
CRNA: So most medications that your doctors prescribe are okay to take because doctors know that if you're going to have surgery, they usually take them off. The ones that are a little iffy are medications for, like, diabetic patients because since you're not eating, your glucose can drop. So, we ask you not to take your medications the night before or the morning of. And if you have a glucometer, check your sugar so we know when your sugars usually run.
- We usually have one here to check in as well, but just so you can take it yourself, we can have a pattern of how your sugar runs. Take the antihypertensives that your doctor prescribes. Yeah. The medications that are blood thinners, you shouldn't take. Your doctor should tell you not to take them unless you have a condition that you need to have them.
- That's case by case. What are the medications? You know, if you were an asthmatic, always bring your inhaler because the stress of the surgery might make you have an event. So, if you have it with you, take a little puff before you go to the surgery. It makes everybody happy.
- And just in case something were to happen naturally, you have some shortness of breath, you have it with you in the recovery area.
Moderator: What if you suffer from anxiety, for example?
CRNA: Case by case basis, I think. So, if you're taking a Benzodiazepine like Xanax or Alprazolam or, which other one that I can think of, like a Klonopin or something, our drug test will tell you that you're positive for it, but it's not a medication that interferes with your anesthesia.
- So if you feel that you're very anxious and you're on that kind of medication, we don't have a problem with you taking it because you're just gonna be more relaxed, and your experience is gonna be a lot easier for you. So it's for you to be relaxed.
Moderator: So absolutely. You're not a problem with that. And, of course, if you have any questions about any medication that you're taking prior to surgery, please let us know. Please ask us. We'll ask your doctor. We'll ask the anesthetist just to make sure that you're completely safe for surgery and that we have enough time to adjust it, if needed, prior to your arrival here at Avana.
- And then the day of surgery, you meet with the patient. And you ask them a series of questions, right? To make sure that they're safe. After that, you bring them into the OR. And how is that process?
CRNA: It's really nothing, really. I mean, I do it all the time. So to me, it's nothing. To you, it's gonna be a big deal. But I go in, I talk to you, you know, go by your systems, make sure that everything's in working order, go through your medications, your surgical history.
- If you have any allergies to any medications, let us know. Medications are also birth control pills. If you have an IUD, if you have Mirena, all those things are medicines that we need to be aware of. I may or may not start an IV outside. I might start it here when you get into the OR.
- When you're in the OR, we'll monitor your heart rate, your oxygenation, and your blood pressure continuously. You know, the monitor alerts them of anything that may or may not go on. Side effects of anesthesia because a lot of people are always asking about nausea and vomiting. We give you medication to try and prevent it, but you could still experience it. It's a case by case.
- Obviously, it's general anesthesia, so you might have a slight sore throat.
Moderator: That's something that a lot of our patients ask. They ask us on the day of their follow-up. Would someone put, you know, down my throat because it feels a little sore, and that's very normal? Right.
CRNA: So it's gonna be not only that you have something there, but the gases that maintain your sleep are a little drying. So you might have a slight irritation that gets a very slight sore throat and gets better within 1 or 2 days.
Moderator: And also, when you wake up from anesthesia, I know a lot of patients are very cold. Can you explain why? What's that process?
CRNA: So the cold has to do with various things. The OR needs to be at a certain temperature because of germs. Also, you have to remember that the fluid that they're putting in for you if you're having liposuction, the tumescent, it's a lot of fluid that they're putting into your body. So that's gonna also decrease your body temperature. Anesthesia works on a certain center of your brain that also deals with the regulation of your temperature.
- It's multifactorial. The reason that they come back feeling cold is they could also experience shivering, and it doesn't necessarily mean they're cold. It's a process. And we can always give them a little medication in the PACU (post-anesthesia care unit) to help them with that.
- And when they get to PAC we put blankets on the patients, warming blankets with the bear hugger that throws warm air to help you get through that faster, but it is an unfortunate process that happens with surgery and the anesthesia.
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