Fear of anesthesia in plastic surgery?

Fear of anesthesia? What is anesthesia exactly?
Anesthesia consists of providing lack of sensitivity or pain, and helps to establish the optimal conditions to perform surgeries, providing safety to the patient, as well as an adequate recovery after surgery.

During the surgical procedure, the anesthesiologist, who is the specialist doctor in charge of administering anesthesia, remains with the patient, monitoring vital signs and ensuring that anesthesia is maintained throughout the surgical procedure.

Will I feel any pain?
Plastic surgery procedures are generally very well controlled with regular pain relief. Which means that the patient rarely describes any type of pain or discomfort. Analgesics are monitored by the anesthesiologist during surgery to avoid postoperative pain as well, which is supplemented by treatment during hospitalization.

What type of anesthesia is the best?
There are different options to adapt to the type of intervention, patient and duration of the procedure in the operating room. It is important to understand that this decision is made with a prior evaluation.

Types of anesthesia most used in plastic surgery

1. Local anesthesia
   Local anesthesia is used in surgeries or small interventions, infiltrating with oral anesthetics in the area to be operated.
   With this anesthesia the patient is aware of the entire process, but will not feel pain. It is usually used in aesthetic medicine to treat scars, moles, freckles, among other minor procedures.
2. Sedation
   Sedation can be light or deep, and consists of the administration of drugs that help reduce the degree of anxiety that the patient may present. It is supported with local anesthesia to avoid pain. It is used in liposuction of certain areas, otoplasty, gynecomastia and others, depending on the patient’s needs.
3. Regional anesthesia
   Regional anesthesia consists of sleeping certain areas of the body. The most widely used is the epidural, which, together with spinal anesthesia, is used for interventions on the lower half of the body. It is usually combined with sedation to improve patient comfort.
   It is used for surgeries such as calf implants, liposuction, abdominoplasty, buttock augmentation, procedures lasting less than two hours in the operating room.
4. General anesthesia
   General anesthesia is recommended for long-term surgeries or for areas of the body where the previous ones are insufficient. The patient is totally asleep on assisted ventilation. This anesthesia can be intravenous, by dropper or inhaled. It is used in augmentation or reduction mammoplasty, combined surgeries, abdominoplasty, blepharoplasty and others.

Is anesthesia safe today?
The education and training of anesthesiologists today keep the risks to a minimum. This, accompanied by monitoring equipment that is equipped with high technology and even auxiliary batteries to prevent.

A trained and experienced anesthesiology team is essential for a successful process.

Meet Dr. Franklin Peña’s team of anesthesiologists here