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Information about Anesthesia
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Information about Anesthesia
I think the best way to impart information to my patients concerning the use of anesthesia is to recount to you my experience over the past 27 years. I will tell you what I hear most of the time.

Actually the patients’ opinions and concerns border on both ends of the spectrum, in that the patients usually voice one of two opinions. For simplicity’s sake, let’s call them Scenario A and Scenario B, both opinions equally popular.

Scenario A
“Doctor, I really want this operation, but what’s been holding me back is all the stories I’ve heard and furthermore, the idea of any kind of surgery frightens me a great deal. So, you have to promise me if we are going to do the procedure I want to be out, out, out!! I don’t want to see anything, I don’t want to feel anything and I certainly don’t want to wake up in the middle of the procedure. I want to be out!”

Scenario B
“Doctor, I want this operation very badly, but I’m frightened to death of the anesthesia. I’m frightened of going to sleep; I’m equally frightened that I’m never going to wake up!!!”

Those are the opinions that I hear. They are very, very common and are legitimate concerns, which are highly understandable. Let me address these issues more thoroughly.

The anesthesiologists that will attend and care for you during your surgery are highly experienced in providing in-office anesthesia to cosmetic surgery patients and they have done so for years and years on end.

Are there risks involved in this procedure or in any procedure . . . sure there are. But I will tell you now that the greatest risk and danger is driving to the office in your car and then being driven back to your home post operatively. Furthermore, in realizing that even though the risks of cosmetic surgery are minor, we wish to reduce them further by selecting a highly experienced anesthesiologist. His main purpose is not so much to put you to sleep but to monitor every function . . . care for you during the procedure . . . and bring you to the recovery room alert and awake.

Yet even though those risks are minimal we still always take several precautions. For instance, on the day of surgery you have a cold . . . the operation is postponed. If you are not feeling well or have a fever . . . the operation is postponed. And, if either the anesthesiologist or myself feels you are not medically ready for the operation, for any reason whatsoever, the operation is postponed. Believe me; all of these situations have occurred.

During your consultation, I will personally address any additional concerns you may have.

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