Types of Anesthesia

Stage
Onset

Excitement

Anesthesia is classified as general or regional.

Anesthetic agents usually are administered by an anaesthesiologist or nurse
anesthetist.
Stages of Anesthesia
Duration
Physical Reactions
Anesthetic
Drowsiness/dizziness,
administration to loss of auditory
and
visualconsciousness
hallucinations
Lloss of consciousness Increase in autonomicto loss of eyelid reflexes activity, irregular brething,
client may struggle

Surgical
anesthsia

Loss of eyelid reflexes Unconsciousness,

and depression of vital relaxation of muscles,
function
diminished gag and blink
reflexes

Danger

Depression
of
vital cLient is not breathing,function and circulatory heartbeat may or may not
failure
be present

1.
-

Nursing Interventions
Close OR doors
Keep room quite
Standby to assist client
Remain quiet at clients
side
Assist anesthesiologist if
necessary
Begin preparation only
when
anaesthesiologist
indicates stage 3 has
been reached and client is
breathing well with stable
VS
If arrest occurs; assist stat
in establishing airway,
provide cardiac arrest
tray, drugs, syringes, long
needles, assist surgeon
with closed or open
cardiac massage.

General Anesthesia
Is the loss of all sensation and consciousness.
Under G.A, protective reflexes such as cough and gag reflex are lost.
A general anesthetic acts by blocking awareness centers in the brain so that
amnesia (loss of memory), analgesia (insensibility to pain), hypnosis (artificial
sleep), and relaxation (rendering a part of the body less tense) occur.
G.A are usually administered via IV infusion or by inhalation of gases via mask or
through an ET tube inserted into the trachea.

Advantages
- Client is unconscious rather than awake and anxious, respiration and cardiac
function are readily regulated.

Anesthesia can be adjusted to the length of operation and the clients age and
physical status.

Disadvantage
- It depresses the respiratory and circulatory systems. Some clients become more
anxious about G.A than about the surgery itself. Often, this is because they fear
losing the capacity to control their own bodies.

2. Regional Anesthesia
- Temporary interruption of the transmission of nerve impulses to and from a
specific area or region of the body.
- The client loses sensation in an area of the body but remains conscious.
-

Several techniques are used:

1. Topical (surface) anesthesia
Applied directly to the skin and mucous membranes, open skin surfaces,
wounds, and burns.
Are readily absorbed and act rapidly.
Most commonly used:
Lidocaine
Benzocaine

2. Local anesthesia (infiltration)

Injected into a specific area and is used for minor surgical procedures such as
suturing a small wound or performing a biopsy.
Lidocaine or tetracycline 0.1% may be used.
3. Nerve block
A technique in which the anesthetic agent is injected into and around a nerve
group that supplies sensation to a small area of the body.
Major blocks involve multiple nerves or a plexus (eg. The brachial plexus
anesthetize the arm)
Minor blocks involve a single nerve (eg., a facial nerve)
4. I.V block (Bier block)
Used most often for procedures involving the arm, wrist, and hand.
An occlusion tourniquet is applied to the extremity to prevent infiltration and
absorption of the injected I.V agent beyond the involved extremity.
5. Spinal anesthesia (subarachnoid block or SAB)

Requires a lumbar puncture through one of the interspaces between lumbar disc
2 L2 and sacrum S1.
An anesthetic agent is injected in to the subarachnoid space surrounding the
spinal cord .
It can be categorized as low, mid, or high spinal.
Low spinal: used for surgeries involving the perineal or rectal areas.
Mid spinals (below the level of umbilicus-T 10) - can be used for hernia repairs or
appendectomies.
High spinal (reaching the nipple line-T 4) can be used for surgeries such as
cesarean sections.
6. Epidural (peridural) anesthesia
An injection of an anesthetic agent into the epidural space, the area inside the
spinal column but outside the dura mater.