Anaesthesia

Types of anaesthesia

Generally speaking, there are 3 types of anaesthesia

General anaesthesia

• A controlled state of unconsciousness is achieved with intra-venous and or gaseous medications with support of your airway and breathing.
• There is no awareness or memory of the procedure.
• This is performed at one of several major hospitals in Adelaide by a qualified anaesthetist.

Neurolept sedation

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• You are sedated with intra-venous medications while you support your own airway and breathing.
• This is combined with local anaesthetic agents infiltrated into the site of surgery to make the area pain free.
• There is no awareness or memory of any discomfort. You may be allowed to to become more conscious once the area of surgery is completely numb
• This is performed at Waverley House Plastic Surgery Center at our accredited day surgery facility by a qualified anaesthetist.

Local anaesthesia

• You are awake and aware during the entire process. Local anaesthetic agents are infiltrated into the site of surgery to make the area pain free.
• In some cases, the local anesthetic can be injected to target specific nerves to give a greater “regional” effect that extends beyond the field of the local anesthetic solution.
• This is performed at Waverley House Plastic Surgery Center at our accredited day surgery facility.
• This would not require an anaesthetist to be involved.

Your anaesthetic will be conducted by a specialist anesthetist who is a recognized fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists.

Anesthesia is safe, however, its safety profile is dependent on a number of variables. Your age, weight, general health and past medical history are important considerations. The type of procedure, the type of anaesthetic and the facility in which your procedure is being performed are also critical in the decision making process. These issues will be carefully balanced to first ensure the safety of your procedure.

Our anaesthetists will counsel you about the risks involved before your procedure. If there are specific concerns or questions, your anaesthetist may choose to contact or see you prior to the day of surgery, however if there are no specific concerns, they will spend some time with you on the day of surgery to outline the procedure and the risks involved.

If you have any specific concerns, it is important that these are raised in good time before your procedure. Our staff can direct your concerns to our surgeons or anaesthetists.