Cosmetic Surgeries for the Seasons
A psychiatric survey has shown that approximately 30% of surgery patients have more anxiety over the anesthesia than they have over the surgery itself. Most of this is due to fear of the unknown. Many patients are concerned that they will not wake up again or that they will experience life-altering symptoms, such as paralysis, following the surgery. For the most part, this fear is completely ungrounded since studies have shown that between 0.01 and 0.016% of patients have fatal complications due to anesthesia, according to the American Board of Cosmetic Surgery. In these cases, the complications are due mainly to preexisting conditions, such as advanced age, obesity or chronic illnesses.
However, knowing these facts does not do much to set many patients’ minds at ease. Instead, knowing exactly what they can expect seems to help the most. On the day of a cosmetic surgery performed under general anesthesia, the patient will arrive at the surgery center and be checked in by nursing staff. Before the surgery, an anesthesiologist will come by to greet the patient, ask a few pertinent questions and assess how the patient is feeling. Some patients who are feeling particularly anxious may receive an IV medication to help them feel calm prior to surgery.
Orange County Cosmetic Surgery
Once the surgeon is ready, the anesthesiologist will use several medications to help put the patient to sleep and to make him or her comfortable. These medications will be given through the IV and will produce unconsciousness, immobility and pain control. Most patients report that they have no memories of the surgery itself, and they feel that the surgery went by very quickly. Next thing they know, they wake up in the recovery area. Recovery time generally produces feelings of grogginess, and some patient report saying or doing things that are out of the ordinary for them.
Needless to say, the best way to beat the fear of general anesthesia is to know what to expect and to find an anesthesiologist who is trustworthy. Dr. Tavoussi uses the anesthesiologists at the Pacifica Outpatient Surgery Center who are board-certified and who have privileges at the local hospitals in case patients need to be transferred there. Patients at OC Cosmetic Surgery Clinique in Newport Beach, California, will be able to meet their anesthesiologists before they are put under, which can give them a sense of safety and control.
Related Items
