Anesthesiologists, commonly known as “anesthesiologists,” have the main duty of helping to relieve pain for patients undergoing surgery, starting from preparing patients before entering the operating room, observing, following up, reporting on patient results during surgery, and taking care of patients until they recover safely after surgery. In addition to ensuring the safety and order of patients undergoing surgery, anesthesiologists must also monitor critically ill patients in the intensive care unit and be part of the resuscitation team, including providing chronic pain medication to cancer patients.
3 main duties of the anesthesiologist team
- Before surgery : Anesthesiologists will plan for the patient’s anesthesia by considering appropriate medication for each patient. They will prepare for the surgery by talking, taking a medical history, checking the results of the physical examination in detail, and giving the patient and their relatives an opportunity to ask questions, especially about pain medication, to create peace of mind until they are ready to receive anesthesia and the upcoming surgery.
- During surgery : During surgery, the patient will be sedated by general anesthesia or local anesthesia as appropriate. The anesthesiologist must be close to the patient throughout the surgery, checking the heart’s electrical waves, blood pressure, and checking the normal oxygen level, as well as watching for any abnormalities that may occur in order to provide assistance and correct them until it is safe to do so until the surgery is complete.
- After surgery : After the surgery is complete, the patient will be moved to an observation room for about 1-2 hours, with an anesthesiologist overseeing and checking according to the steps for safety. Then the patient will be moved to a recovery room, where the anesthesiologist will continue to monitor the patient’s symptoms for a while to provide assistance in cases where pain is still present.
Types of anesthesia
- General Anesthesia
- Regional Anesthesia
- Local Anesthesia
- Sedation
Anesthesiologists monitor patients before and after surgery
- Prepare patients before surgery, assess physical and mental readiness.
- Surgical period, provide care from the time the patient enters the operating room until they leave the operating room.
- Monitor and provide care to ensure safety throughout the surgery.
- Monitor and provide treatment for complications that may occur during surgery.
- Monitor breathing, pulse and blood pressure using appropriate monitoring devices throughout the surgery.
- Monitor and provide care to patients during the recovery period until they wake up from anesthesia.
- Give appropriate pain relief to patients.
What you should know is that when undergoing surgery, including all types of anesthesia, there is always a risk of complications from various factors, including the patient’s physical condition, the severity of the disease, and the surgical method. All of these, the anesthesiologist will closely monitor to prevent or resolve complications, even dangers that may occur to the patient. However, some situations may be difficult to avoid during surgery, such as shock, low blood pressure, cardiac arrest. The anesthesiologist and surgeon must always control the situation and provide assistance to the best of their ability so that the surgery goes smoothly for every patient.