Table of contents:
- How long will the anesthetic last after surgery?
- 1. Local anesthesia
- 2. Regional anesthesia
- 3. General anesthesia
Anesthetic will be given when a person has surgery. There are many types of anesthetics and these have different side effects for each patient. The effects of anesthesia that most often appear are nausea and vomiting and weakness. Maybe you are curious, how long the effects of the anesthetic you will experience after a successful operation. Check out the following explanation.
How long will the anesthetic last after surgery?
Anesthetics are drugs that are used to calm the patient, reduce pain, and reduce the patient's consciousness during medical procedures. There are several types of anesthetics (anesthesia) that are usually used, and each has different side effects and duration of effect. This is usually adjusted to the patient's condition, the type of medical procedure performed, and the patient's illness.
During surgery, the effects of the anesthesia will be taken into account so that it is unlikely that you will wake up in the middle of the operation, although this is still possible. Anesthetics are usually given by injection or by gas that contains the drug.
Meanwhile, the effect of anesthesia after surgery usually also depends on the type of anesthesia being performed. There are several types of anesthesia that are usually performed. Complete information can be listened to below.
1. Local anesthesia
Local anesthesia, which is anesthesia that is applied only around the area of the body to be given the procedure. So, the effects of this anesthetic will only numb one part of the body. Medical procedures, which use local anesthesia, are usually mild medical procedures and have a short duration.
Therefore, after the medical procedure has been completed, it will not be long before the nervous system in the part of the body that was previously anesthetized will return to normal. Because it is quite mild, you will not be sedated for long after the medical procedure is complete.
2. Regional anesthesia
This regional anesthesia is divided into two, namely spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia. Both of these methods cause some areas of the body to experience numbness (numbness), which can cause you to wake up during the surgery. Or, you can also be given sleeping pills during the medical procedure. When this anesthesia is administered, half of your body will be numb and begin not to feel any sensations.
The effects of this type of anesthetic are usually longer than local anesthetics. For spinal anesthesia, it can last 2 to 6 hours. Meanwhile, the effects of epidural anesthesia can last 2 to 3 days after surgery.
If you are given spinal or epidural anesthesia, before returning to the inpatient room, you will go to the recovery room first after the operation. This is to monitor your health condition after surgery and wait for the effects of the anesthetic to wear off.
3. General anesthesia
General anesthesia will usually be used if the surgery is large enough and takes a long time. However, this also depends on the part of the body to be operated on and the patient's disease.
General anesthesia is given in two ways, namely by inserting the drug through a vein or using a mask filled with anesthetic gas. If you are planned to be given general anesthesia, then during the operation you will be unconscious and your whole body will feel numb, not just partially.
For the effects of this general anesthetic, it will usually last longer. Therefore, all patients who are given general anesthesia during the operation will first go to the recovery room for some time. Even the effects of this anesthetic will occur in the next day or two, depending on the dose given.
In order to find out which type of anesthesia is best to do, it's best to discuss this with your doctor ahead of your surgery schedule.