Department of Anaesthesiology

Gleneagles Hospitals has one of the best teams of Anesthetists and Intensivists with many years of experience in providing patient care before, during, and after surgery. Apart from providing Anaesthesia services, Anesthesiologists are responsible for providing critical care services. The Centre for Anaesthesia & Critical Care at Gleneagles Hospitals is equipped with state-of-the-art imaging and various diagnostic services. Patient safety, survival and recovery are the foremost objectives of the centre; and to meet this objective, the centre maintains high standards of infection-free environment, modern devices for administering anaesthesia, and many other vital monitoring gadgets that form the core of our innovative critical care service.

The team of Anesthesiologists is adept at various kinds of anaesthesia based on the pre-surgical assessment and the surgery type. The anaesthesia specialists conduct a pre-anaesthesia clinic to know the patient’s suitability for anaesthesia. Post-surgery, the specialists also follow up with the patients to ensure that the recovery from anaesthesia is uneventful with minimal pain and discomfort.

Types of Anaesthesia

The Anaesthesia department is well-equipped with the latest technology. The three main types of anaesthesia we provide are:

Local Anaesthesia

Local anaesthesia is used to numb the Nerves of a small and specific part of the body. This type of anaesthesia is generally administered through injection and used for relatively simple surgical procedures. For example, if surgery is to be performed on the left leg, then local anaesthesia numbs only the left leg without affecting the other parts of the body. Sometimes local anaesthesia is also given in the form of gels, sprays and ointments. Below are a few instances where local anaesthesia is generally used.

• Tooth Removal
• Minor Eye Surgery (e.g. Cataract)
• Small surgeries such as the removal of warts and moles on the skin
• Stitching of deep but small wounds

Some persons may experience temporary side effects of this type of anaesthesia, such as blurred vision, muscle twitching, dizziness, weakness etc. But, these effects remain for a brief stint of time and fade away with proper rest.

Specialised technique - Awake Craniotomy.

Regional

Regional anaesthesia is used to block a group of Nerves to desensitize a larger area of the body that requires more invasive surgery. Two kinds of techniques may be implemented under this category of anaesthesia; the first one is Epidural and Spinal anaesthesia, in which the anaesthetics are injected with great precision at appropriate points on the back. The other technique, known as Peripheral Nerve Block, is deployed to numb the areas of body extremities that need surgery.

Regional anaesthesia is typically used for surgical procedures such as the Resection of Organs (Stomach, Intestine, Prostate), Cesarean Procedures, Ortho and Joint Surgeries etc.

The person under regional anaesthesia may or may not be awake depending on the need for surgery and individual pre-surgery assessment. Depending upon the need the person may be given mild/moderate/deep sedative.

General Anaesthesia

General anaesthesia affects the entire body and induces a state of unconsciousness. This kind of anaesthesia is used for extensive surgical procedures that run for longer periods. Here, the team of anaesthetists continuously monitor and administer the anaesthesia based on pre-surgical assessment and also assessment during the surgery. The person under this kind of sedation has no awareness or sensations of the procedure being carried out. This type of anaesthesia is administered in the form of gas through a breathing mask or intravenously (IV) as a liquid.

Skilful administration and monitoring of general anaesthesia by a qualified team of Anaesthetists are crucial during life-critical surgeries of major Organs of the body. Procedures such as Brain Tumour Removal, Heart Valve Repair and Replacement, Organ Transplant etc. are performed under this kind of anaesthesia.

General anaesthesia may have an impact on memory, concentration and reflexes for the first couple of days. Hence, a sensible person should accompany the patient throughout recovery.