What Is The Importance of Anaesthesiologist for Patients?

All these years while growing up, we have been visiting hospitals for treatments or to meet a relative after their surgery. Although we know that an operation calls for an entire team of surgeons, nurses and other specialists, we usually tend to ignore their importance, while only considering doctors as the most relevant personality throughout the event. One such profession is anaesthesiology. Yes, most of us still call anaesthesiologist “Behoshi ka Doctor”, who is an expert in sedating patients by applying that one strong injection or giving pain killers to temporarily cease their pain. But in reality, they do much more than that. To begin with, anaesthesiologists are perioperative physicians specializing in the field of pharmacology, the study of the human body’s response to certain drugs. 

What is the role of anaesthesiologist in surgical procedure?

The role of an anaesthesiologist doesn’t end in the operating room. It starts even before the surgery and extends way beyond that. They are also responsible for ensuring that patients don’t suffer from any kind of pain even after the surgery or if they have an ongoing condition like cancer, which requires continuous assistance from anaesthesiologists to prevent discomfort.

In a nutshell, these healthcare experts play a pivotal role in every step of the surgery, including preparation (where they consult about the quantity of anaesthesia and guide the patient on how to buckle up for surgery), during surgery (where they regulate the sedative in sync with the vital signs or comorbid conditions of a patient), and recovery post-surgery (where they ensure that the patient is recovering well from sedation). 

Role of Anaesthesiologist 

Let’s explore these three phases, which requires an anaesthesiologist to ensure safety and comfort to the patient:

Pre-surgery

Before even the surgery procedures initiate, it is the onus of an anaesthesiologist to interact with both patient and doctor to evaluate the patients’ medical history, conduct a physical examination, and eventually review test results. The idea is to check whether the patient is ready to undergo surgery and ensure that this process is performed in the safest and most effective way possible. 

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This process is also called preoperative evaluation. The anaesthesiologist is then required to develop a suitable plan for surgery based on this evaluation, involving either general anaesthesia (where a patient is put to sleep) or a regional nerve block (where only a part of the body is numbed to avoid excruciating pain). 

During surgery 

When the surgery begins, the anaesthesiologist monitors the vital life functions of the patient, for instance, how their heart or lungs are functioning, breathing rate, body temperature, body fluid balance, and blood pressure, among others, while they are unconscious. Keep all these factors in mind, they control the patient’s level of consciousness and ensure that the surgical experience is least painful by making the required changes ideal for a safe and successful operation.  

Post-surgery 

Finally, when the operation is successful, the anaesthesiologist continues to monitor the patient’s current health condition and take steps to minimize the pain resulting from surgery, if any. There are times when a patient goes through acute pain just after the surgery. As the body heals, the surgical pain starts resolving over time. 

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Another type of pain that a patient can suffer from is chronic pain, which is mostly associated with the trauma caused by an accident like nerve injury. For both kinds of pains, the anaesthesiologist follows different procedures to ensure relief to the patient. 

Summing up

Reading through the article must have shed light on how crucial an anaesthesiologist is and what are the things they are capable of. Apart from the aforementioned functions, these experts also need to be highly calm as they are tasked to perform under pressure. Moreover, anaesthesiologists should also have strong interpersonal and communication skills to understand patients’ problems and assist them at every point possible, thus ensuring unmatched patient safety and high satisfaction levels throughout the surgical process. 

Inputs are contributed by Edwards Lifesciences

Images credits- freepik