What is "anesthesia"

Anesthesia \An`es*the"si*a\, n., Anesthetic \An`es*thet"ic\, a. Same as An[ae]sthesia, An[ae]sthetic.

alternative spelling of anaesthesia (q.v.). See ae.

alt. 1 (context American spelling medicine English) A method of preventing sensation, used to eliminate pain. 2 The loss or prevention of pain, as caused by anesthesia. n. 1 (context American spelling medicine English) A method of preventing sensation, used to eliminate pain. 2 The loss or prevention of pain, as caused by anesthesia.

n. loss of bodily sensation with or without loss of consciousness [syn: anaesthesia]

In the practice of medicine (especially surgery) and dentistry, anesthesia or anaesthesia is a temporary induced state with one or more of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), amnesia (loss of memory), and unconsciousness. A patient under the effects of anesthetic drugs is referred to as being anesthetized.

Anesthesia enables the painless performance of medical procedures that would cause severe or intolerable pain to an unanesthetized patient. Three broad categories of anaesthesia exist:

• General anesthesia suppresses central nervous system activity and results in unconsciousness and total lack of sensation.
• Sedation suppresses the central nervous system to a lesser degree, inhibiting both anxiety and creation of long-term memories without resulting in unconsciousness.
• Regional anesthesia and local anesthesia, which block transmission of nerve impulses between a targeted part of the body and the central nervous system, causing loss of sensation in the targeted body part. A patient under regional or local anesthesia remains conscious. Two broad classes exist:
  • Peripheral blockade inhibits sensory perception in an isolated part of the body, such as numbing a tooth for dental work or administering a nerve block to inhibit sensation in an entire limb.
  • Central, or neuraxial, blockade administers the anesthetic in the region of the central nervous system itself, suppressing incoming sensation from outside the area of the block. Examples include epidural anaesthesia and spinal anaesthesia.

In preparing for a medical procedure, the health care provide giving anesthesia chooses and determines the doses of one or more drugs to achieve the types and degree of anesthesia characteristics appropriate for the type of procedure and the particular patient. The types of drugs used include general anesthetics, hypnotics, sedatives, neuromuscular-blocking drugs, narcotic, and analgesics.

There are both major and minor risks of anesthesia. Examples of major risks include death, heart attack and pulmonary embolism whereas minor risks can include postoperative nausea and vomiting and hospital readmission. The likelihood of a complication occurring is proportional to the relative risk of a variety of factors related to the patient's health, the complexity of the surgery being performed and the type of anesthetic. Of these factors, the person's health prior to surgery (stratified by the ASA physical status classification system) has the greatest bearing on the probability of a complication occurring. Patients typically wake within minutes of an anesthetic being terminated and regain their senses within hours. One exception is a condition called long-term post-operative cognitive dysfunction, characterized by persistent confusion lasting weeks or months, which is more common in those undergoing cardiac surgery and in the elderly.

Anesthesia is Fun People's debut album, released on frost bite.

Anesthesia is a 2015 independent drama film written, produced and directed by Tim Blake Nelson. Nelson stars in the film with Sam Waterston, Kristen Stewart, Glenn Close, Gretchen Mol, and Corey Stoll. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 22, 2015. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand on January 8, 2016 by IFC Films.

Anesthesia'' (German:Narkose'') is a 1929 German silent film directed by Alfred Abel and starring Renée Héribel and Jack Trevor.

The film's art direction was by Willy Brummer and Julius von Borsody.

Anesthesia or anaesthesia has traditionally meant the condition of having the perception of pain and other sensations blocked.

In some countries, the term is also used to mean Anesthesiology.

See Veterinary anesthesia for anesthesia in non-human animals.

Anesthesia may also refer to:

in music:

• Anesthesia (album) (1995), an album by Fun People
• Anesthesia (Premature Ejaculation album) (1992), an album by Premature Ejaculation
• "Anesthesia", the sixth track on the album Against the Grain (1990) by Bad Religion
• "Anesthesia", the thirteenth track on the album Life Is Killing Me (2003) by Type O Negative
• " (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth", the fifth track (an instrumental by Cliff Burton) on the album Kill 'Em All (1983) by Metallica

in other:

• Anesthesia (film), a 2015 film
• Anaesthesia (journal), a medical journal