Anesthesia - Tasks And Areas

Anesthesia: Tasks & Areas

The most important task in anesthesia is the monitoring of vital body functions during the operation and, in the event of organ dysfunction, their treatment up to and including organ replacement. Breathing, circulation, fluid, electrolyte, acid-base balance and blood clotting are monitored and treated.

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At the same time, the anesthetist also diagnoses and treats any complications that may arise as a result of the procedure, the anesthetic procedure or the patient's previous illnesses. Among other things, an infusion therapy compensates for fluid and blood losses during the operation. Depending on the type of operation, the patient's own blood is collected in special devices, washed and then administered via an indwelling venous cannula. In principle, measures and medication are used to quickly correct blood clotting disorders during the operation. Nevertheless, in some cases the administration of foreign blood products (transfusion), such as for example blood, blood platelets or blood plasma, is necessary.

Anesthesia is not just about "oversleeping" the operation, but about the availability and - if necessary - the use of intensive care and emergency medical measures. According to the law in Austria, these varied tasks are only allowed to be carried out by specialists in anesthesiology and intensive care medicine or by trainees in a special subject in the teaching institution.

There are different anesthetic procedures:

• General anesthesia ("general anesthesia")

• Regional anesthesia (nerve block)

  • Regional anesthesia close to the spinal cord

    • Spinal anesthesia ("cross stitch")
    • Epidural anesthesia, epidural anesthesia
    • Caudal block
    • Combined spinal and epidural anesthesia
  • Peripheral regional anesthesia
  • Local anesthesia (local anesthetic)
• Sedoanalgesia (analgesia, "twilight sleep")
• Monitoring ("stand by")