Anesthesia - After Anesthesia

After an anesthetic

Many people experience the end of an operation and waking up from anesthesia as a relief. Depending on the type of anesthesia and the surgical procedure, the patient either comes to the recovery room or to the intensive care unit. Postoperative pain therapy is one of the most important tasks in the recovery room. The reasons for a postoperative transfer to an intensive care unit can be varied.

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The recovery room

The recovery room is used for immediate monitoring after an operation. There are monitoring options there, such as in the operating theater or in an intensive care unit. The nursing staff use monitors to check the heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and the state of consciousness. The recovery room is located near the operating room, on the one hand to keep the transport routes short and on the other hand to be able to help quickly in an emergency.

Postoperative pain therapy is one of the most important tasks in the recovery room. The anesthetist begins pain therapy before waking up from anesthesia. The further pain therapy builds on this basis. The perception of pain is very different and the corresponding treatment is an individual process. The period of time in the recovery room is correspondingly different, since a transfer is only possible if there is little pain. The assessment is made using a visual analogue scale (VAS) or a numerical rating scale (NRS). The patient describes the pain in numbers between zero (no pain) and ten (strongest imaginable pain).

In addition, laboratory control examinations, any treatment of nausea, vomiting and monitoring of the fluid balance are part of the activities in the recovery room. Only when the patient's overall condition is stable does he / she come to the ward.

The intensive care unit

An intensive care unit is a highly specialized department where the seriously ill, seriously injured and patients after serious operations are given special care and care. The reasons for a postoperative transfer to an intensive care unit can be varied. After some interventions, certain parameters must be monitored using special measuring techniques using various probes, e.g. blood pressure in the arteries, veins near the heart, pulmonary arteries, pressure in the brain. Other probes are used for nutrition and stomach relief, while others remove blood, wound secretion, urine, liquor (cerebral or spinal cord fluid) and air.

Another task is artificial respiration. Continued ventilation may be necessary, especially after a long operation or for any other medical reason. In this case, the patient remains under anesthesia so that the body can better recover from the procedure or illness. Sometimes organ malfunctions are the cause of an intensive care stay. Organ functions are then replaced by machines, for example in kidney replacement therapy. Many people associate negative feelings with intensive care medicine. This assumption is often unfounded. Intensive care medicine in particular makes a significant contribution to recovering from serious operations, illnesses and injuries.