Wednesday, June 20, 2018

Some Basic Principles On Endoscopic Anesthesia

By Ann Cole


Numbing of the gastrointestinal system is indicated when carrying out endoscopy. Endoscopic procedures entail using tubes to access the gut. The tubes usually have cameras installed to facilitate viewing of diseased areas. Management of disease in this region is also possible through endoscopy. Endoscopic anesthesia is essential to ensure the client is not traumatized.

Before anaesthesia is administered, detailed history, physical examination and investigations will have to be conducted. History taking requires that a good rapport is created between the patient and the doctor. The doctor will need to any underlying conditions such as diabetes and hypertension. They also need to reveal what drugs they could be on as some drugs are known to interact negatively with anaesthetic drugs.

During endoscopic anaesthesia, one is connected to machines to monitor their vital signs. Blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory rate are the basic vital signs to be monitored. An electrocardiogram is also set up to monitor the working of the heart during endoscopy.

Oxygen saturation levels are also monitored using a pulse oximeter usually clipped at the tip of one of the fingers. Ideally, saturation levels should be above ninety six per cent. Oxygen should be given via a face mask to ensure levels remain above the target. Vital signs should also be adjusted accordingly when they become abnormal.

A good anaesthetic drug should also ensure muscle relaxation. Relaxation of muscles ensures that the operation is done without experiencing difficulties related to muscle spasm. Since there is no single drug with all these properties, anaesthetic drugs are usually used in combination. Examples include benzodiazepines, muscle relaxants, analgesics among others.

Reversal is performed once the endoscopy is done. Reversal simply means restoring the original awareness of the patient before anaesthesia. This is usually simpler and smoothly eases the patient back to stability unlike induction which can be quite difficult. Some of the reversal agents include flumazenil for benzodiazepines and naloxone for opioids. These reversal agents are otherwise known as antagonists.

Once the procedure is complete, the client is taken to a post anaesthesia care unit, PACU. This is simply a recovery room for patients to be able to fully wake up from anaesthesia and be aware of the surrounding. It serves to closely monitor the individual in case of any complications that may come up immediately after the procedure. As such, vital signs are once again monitored and oxygen is supplemented.

In summary, endoscopic anaesthesia is key when performing procedures in the alimentary canal, especially the uppermost and lowermost region of the canal. Based on widespread the illness is, a patient can either be under general anaesthesia or local anaesthesia. Apart from being an investigative procedure, endoscopy has the added advantage of being therapeutic for given conditions.




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