Patient Information for Adults Undergoing General Anesthesia

Aegis’ Anesthesia’s primary goal is to provide high quality, state of the art anesthesia for your upcoming surgical procedure. We thank you for visiting our website and hope that you will find this information useful. Please remember, what follows is a general overview of the surgical process. Your specific anesthesia care will be uniquely formulated and provided by your anesthesia care team. The following are only general guidelines for your surgery. None of this information should override the instructions given to you by your individual physicians.
     
On the day of your surgery you will first check in with the surgical staff, be escorted to the preoperative area, change into a gown, be interviewed by a nurse, and have an intravenous line started. Prior to your surgery you will see many individuals, which may include your anesthesia provider(s), surgeon and surgical assistant(s), operating room nursing staff, etc. 
     
Our group consists of anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists. Anesthesiologists are medical doctors who have completed four years of medical school and four years of medical residency. Our physicians are certified by the American Board of Anesthesiology. CRNAs are advanced practice nurses who have received highly specialized training in anesthesia care and critical care (ICU nursing care). 
     
Prior to your surgery, you will meet your anesthesia provider(s). A pre-anesthesia interview will be performed at this time. This helps your anesthesia team formulate a unique care plan for your surgical procedure. The type of anesthesia selected depends upon multiple factors including your medical history, the surgical procedure, and occasionally is influenced by the preferences of your anesthesiologist and/or surgeon. Please listen carefully and answer all questions as best as you can during this interview. The answers you provide are crucial to formulating the right anesthesia care plan for you.
     
During this interview, an anesthesia consent form will be provided for your review. Please read this carefully. There will be a discussion of anesthesia risk on this form. If you have any questions at all, please ask your anesthesia care team. Modern day advances in anesthesia care have made anesthesia specific risk rare, particularly in healthy individuals. However, there are risks inherent to surgery and anesthesia. The anesthesia consent form is not meant to scare you but merely to inform. Our primary goal is patient safety and we will do all we can to achieve this. 
     
After your surgery, you will be brought to the recovery room for a brief period of time to recover from surgery. Once certain discharge criteria have been met, you will then be allowed to leave the recovery area to your designated area for discharge (I.e. Home, hospital bed, ICU, etc.). Please remember that should not drive for 24 hours after your surgery which means a responsible party must be available to transport you home. 
     
It is our sincere hope that your surgical experience is a pleasant one. We will do all we can to help achieve this.

Dietary Instructions prior to Surgery

In general, you should have nothing to eat or drink past midnight the night before your surgery. If you need to take scheduled medicines the day of surgery, you may do so with a small sip of water. Please follow the dietary instructions from your physicians. If these dietary instructions are not followed, your scheduled surgery may have to be postponed or rescheduled. For children, this advice varies depending upon the age of the child. Also, for adults with certain medical conditions, this advice may vary as well. Please ask your physicians regarding dietary instructions prior to surgery. 

Medication Instructions prior to Surgery

Please ask your physicians about which of your prescribed medicines you should take prior to surgery. In general, most medicines should be taken as scheduled with a small sip of water. Some notable exceptions include blood thinners (I.e. Coumadin, Plavix, aspirin) and some diabetes pills but do not stop any of your medications without consulting your physicians first. 

Types of Anesthesia

If an anesthesia care team will be involved in your surgery, the options for anesthesia include the following: monitored anesthesia care (MAC), regional anesthesia, central neuraxial anesthesia (spinal or epidural), or general anesthesia. The type of anesthesia chosen for your surgery depends upon your unique circumstances (i.e. medical history, surgical procedure, etc.). A member of your anesthesia care team will be present throughout your procedure. You will be monitored during the case no matter what type of anesthesia provided. Please keep in mind that occasionally the plan for anesthesia can change. Therefore, general anesthesia is always a backup plan for your surgery.

Monitored Anesthesia Care usually is employed for procedures of minor intensity. It usually involves a state of sedation along with local anesthesia (numbing medicine) provided by your surgeon if necessary. Regional anesthesia involves injecting local anesthesia (numbing medicine) directly near major nerves. This is usually performed for surgery on the extremities. Regional anesthesia can also be used to help provide pain relief after surgery. In this circumstance, another type of anesthesia will be utilized for your surgery. Central neuraxial anesthesia (spinal or epidural anesthesia) involves injecting numbing medicines directly near the spinal cord. This is usually employed for surgery on the lower extremities and lower abdomen. An epidural can sometimes be placed to help with pain relief after surgery. If spinal/epidural or regional are utilized for your surgery as the primary anesthetic, sedating medicines are often provided during the case. General anesthesia is a state of unconsciousness induced by a combination of medicines that allows major surgery to occur. 

Please consult with your anesthesia care team for more details regarding the types of anesthesia. If you have any specific questions prior to your surgery, please call 972-867-3627 and someone from our staff will address your questions/concerns.

Complications of Anesthesia

Modern day advances in anesthesia care have made anesthesia specific risk rare. Unfortunately, complications can and sometimes do occur with surgery. Please be assured that most of these anesthesia related complications are short lived. If you feel a complication has occurred that has not been addressed, please inform your surgeon and/or our office. Please call 972-867-3627 and someone from our staff will be glad to assist you. We strongly emphasize that patient safety is our primary concern and we will do all we can to accomplish this.  

Office Based Anesthesia

Aegis Anesthesia provides anesthesia coverage to some of our surgical colleagues in an office based setting. The guidelines for surgery apply to the office based setting as well. We would like to emphasize that, before your procedure, you ask your physician about which medications to take prior to your procedure and you ask about dietary instructions prior to the procedure (in general nothing to eat or drink past midnight). You must have a ride home and you should not drive for 24 hours after the procedure. If you have any questions at all about the anesthesia for your office procedure, please give us a call 972-867-3627.

Questions about Billing and Insurance

Since there are many different health insurance products each with differing levels of coverage, please consult your individual insurance plan for questions about coverage. For any questions at all about anesthesia billing, please contact our office 972-867-3627. They will be more than happy to assist you and answer any questions you may have regarding your bill.