GENERAL INFORMATION:
SCOPE OF PRACTICE
Patients that are scheduled to have surgery will be referred to an Anaesthesiologist for planning and implementation of their anaesthetic care. This entails optimization of the patient's condition, selection of an appropriate anaesthetic technique for that patient as well as suitable preparation of the operating theatre equipment.
For many patients the choice will either be a "general anaesthetic" where the patient is "put to sleep" or a "regional anaesthetic" such as a spinal or epidural block where the patient is awake or under sedation but experiences no discomfort.
These options are usually carefully explained to the patient prior to the anaesthetic.
When emergency operations are undertaken for trauma or acute surgical illness, the Anaesthesiologist's special skills in resuscitation and advanced life support are required.
For many patients the choice will either be a "general anaesthetic" where the patient is "put to sleep" or a "regional anaesthetic" such as a spinal or epidural block where the patient is awake or under sedation but experiences no discomfort.
These options are usually carefully explained to the patient prior to the anaesthetic.
When emergency operations are undertaken for trauma or acute surgical illness, the Anaesthesiologist's special skills in resuscitation and advanced life support are required.
Anaesthesiologists have been called peri-operative physicians because they provide care throughout the peri-operative period. This period can be divided into three parts:
1: Pre-Op: Before surgery
2: Intra-Op: During surgery
3: Post-Op: During your recovery after the operation; in the recovery room, back in the ward, or in the high-care/intensive care ward.
1: Pre-Op: Before surgery
2: Intra-Op: During surgery
3: Post-Op: During your recovery after the operation; in the recovery room, back in the ward, or in the high-care/intensive care ward.
This information was reproduced from the South African Society of Anaesthesiologists (SASA) website Patient Corner page with permission from the webmaster (http://www.sasaweb.com)