Anaesthesia is used to stop patients from feeling pain or other sensations during operations or medical tests.
A patient may be unconscious or ‘out cold’ with a general anaesthetic, or a certain part or parts of the body may be numbed.
Anaesthetics block pain and other signals from passing along nerves to the brain. It is given as gas to breathe in, injections, ointments, drops or sprays.
After a procedure, the anaesthetic wears off, and the patient will regain sensation, and may start to feel some pain from the procedure.
Pain, due to various reasons, when unresolved, can lead to a state of chronic pain not responding to various types of treatments and can ultimately deplete one’s physical and emotional energy. This often leads to prolonged suffering and loss of quality of life often interfering with one’s daily activities by giving an overall sense of ill health. It is understandable that the World Health Organization (WHO) has recently identified chronic pain as one of the major public health concerns of the 21st century.
Anaesthesia & Pain Management Department