The fear of Surgery is real and often overwhelming.
The desire to avoid Pain is central to that fear.
Surgeons in the middle ages amputated limbs and stitched up wounds with nothing but opium to numb the patient. Often, it had little or no effect in overcoming pain.
But modern surgery makes the surgery completely painless.
This is largely due to two monumental strides of medical science. Anaesthesia and Keyhole (Laparoscopic) surgery. The elimination of pain is a key objective of both these fascinating developments.
In every civilization and era, medical practitioners have experimented to alleviate the suffering of their patients. Thus the story of Anaesthesia is very interesting.
Sushruta used cannabis vapours to sedate patients before surgery as far back as c 6 BC in ancient India. The ancient Greeks used deliriant herbs in a brew. The Chinese used a mixture of herbs and wine while the Romans used mandrake boiled in wine.
Chloroform became popular in the 19th century after an anaesthetist named John Snow performed obstetric anaesthesia by chloroforming Queen Victoria for the birth of her son in 1853. But Snow later conducted careful studies to discover the dangers of chloroform which had led to a number of deaths.
Today, the science of Anaesthesia has made tremendous progress.
Three types of Anaesthesia are used in surgeries today.
General Anaesthesia which makes a patient go to deep sleep when surgery is taking place and thus making the patient unable to sense pain. Almost all open (conventional) surgeries deploy General Anaetheisa because of big size incision made on abdomen- almost the size of your palm (6-9 inches).
Spinal Anaesthesia is where patient is fully concious when surgery is going on but feels no sensation at the location of the surgery. Spinal anaesthesia has become the first choice for many keyhole surgeries.
Local anaesthesia is given on a localised section of the body. It blocks the nerves that transmit pain signals to the brain. As more and more laparoscopic surgeries are becoming daycare surgeries, local anaesthesia’s role getting bigger and bigger.
Administering anaesthesia is a job requiring special skill. Determining whether the patient requires general or local anaesthesia, the dosage required, the type of drug used etc. are crucial decisions an Anaesthetist is required to make. The patient is also required to be kept under close and constant observation after being administered anaesthesia. Thus Anaesthetists are priceless partners of surgeons in not just giving good anesthesia but also in improving the outcome of the surgery.
Having said that it is important to choose Centers that have long experience and published results of their laparoscopic procedures. Keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery introduces certain other elements such as inflation of the abdomen with carbon dioxide, which need special attention by the Anaesthetist-Surgeon duo. This is where experience matters.
Our Center at Trivandrum has very high capabilities of an expert team of Anaesthetists headed by Dr Gopakumar. Be it high risk obese patients or surgeries needing extreme tilt positions; this team always produces excellent results.
Another huge contribution by this team is nothing less than a blessing to patients. I am talking about their skills and focus on reducing post operative pain during recovery period. Most hospitals neglect this important area but our team assigns high priority to it. As a result our patients recover painlessly after surgeries.
Our experience of one of the largest Indian numbers of advanced laparoscopic surgery coupled with world class anaesthesia team makes our Centre one of the best Keyhole Surgery Centers in Kerala and India.
As we recognise the many facets of the history of medicine and surgery in this fascinating series, it will not be an exaggeration to say that modern surgery would have been impossible without the advent of Science of Anaesthesia.
Take Care
