Anesthesia is the loss of feeling or sensation. It may be accomplished without the loss of consciousness, or with partial or total loss of consciousness. Anesthesia has not been around forever, but there is a background history of its creation and the primitive anesthetics used before anesthesia was discovered. Today there are many different anesthetics and delivery methods dependent to the type of procedure. Anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists are a crucial part of the surgical team. Without anesthesia where would we be today? “The first recorded use of anesthesia dates back to the ancient Incas.
Shamas got coked-up chewing coca leaves and drilled holes in the heads of their patients, to let the bad spirits escape, while spitting into the wounds they had imposed. The coke-resin-spittle substance to numbed the site allowing hours of drilling” (History). In the 1700s to 1800s most patients drank an abundant amount of alcohol, or smoked opium or marijuana to dull the pain. Finally in 1772 a man by the name of Priestly was experimenting with gasses. He mixed some up and created a new gas, nitrous oxide. This caused him to see clearer while feeling lightheaded, but this happened totally by accident.
Nitrous oxide is commonly referred to as laughing gas because Priestly could not stop laughing when the gas was in his system. Nitrous oxide was then tested on Humphry Davy, who was the first patient to receive nitrous oxide while having his wisdom teeth removed. He felt no pain, and it was a success (Poetry). Nitrous oxide did not have the strength to relieve surgical pain. In 1842, a doctor by the name of Long had been high on ether, an organic solvent, at a party, and realized he had bruised himself but never felt any pain. Dr.
Long convinced his patient James, who had two cysts in his neck, to try a bit of ether for his procedure. James passed out and woke up having had a pain free procedure (Crawford). This was a giant leap for medicine that day. Long spent seven years experimenting and developing these anesthetics, but he never got a patent. A person by the name of Morton “borrowed” his method and performed it in front of famous surgeons. For years they could not decide which man should be credited as the father of anesthesia so both Morton and Long share this honorable position (History).
In Boston there is a statue that stands, erected to the Father of Anesthesiology. If someone were to look closely at the statue, they would see that there is no name listed because there is no one Father of Anesthesiology. There is general, regional and local anesthesia. In general anesthesia, one is unconscious and has no awareness or other feelings. There are a number of general anesthetic drugs such as gases or vapors inhaled through a breathing mask or tube and medications introduced through an IV.
In regional anesthesia, the anesthesiologist makes and injection near a cluster of nerves to numb the area of the body that requires surgery. The patient may stay awake, or may be given a sedative, either way they do not see or feel the actual surgery taking place. There are several kinds of regional anesthetics. The two most common are spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia. In local anesthesia, the anesthetic drug is usually injected into the tissue to numb just the specific location of the body requiring minor surgery.
No matter what anesthetic is received the patient will not have feeling during the surgery. An anesthesiologist is a specialist who administers an anesthetic to a patient before he is treated. Nurse anesthetists, or certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, CRNAs, are licensed professional nurses, RN’s, who undergo extensive training in a master’s program. After graduating a national certification exam has to be passed. The CRNA’s role is to stay with the patient during the procedure monitoring the patients vital signs and giving necessary medications and blood products ordered.
“Ninety percent of the approximately 40 million anesthetics used annually in the United States are administered by anesthesiologists” (Anesthesiologist’s). During a surgical procedure, the anesthesiologist continually assesses the medical status of the patient, monitoring and controlling vital life functions, as well as managing pain. Postoperatively, the anesthesiologist determines when a patient can return home following an outpatient procedure and when a patient can be moved to another ward following a procedure that requires hospitalization. Throughout the years, anesthesia has become a necessity.
Since the discovery and development of anesthesia patients have quick, pain free surgeries without having to be aware of what is going on. Since the 1800s, medicine has changed a lot because of anesthesia and all of the anesthetics that have been developed. Work Cited “Anesthesiologist’s Role. ” 27 Jan 2010 < http://www. answers. com/topic/anesthesiologist-s-role. > “Dr Crawford Williamson Long. ” 27 Jan 2010 < http://www. general-anaesthesia. com/images/crawford-long. html>. “The History of Anesthesia. ” Wellness Directory of Minnesota. 24 Jan 2010 . “The Poetry of Humphry Davy. ” 27 Jan 2010 .