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.

Adequate oxygen should be administered to the client in order for the endoscopy procedure to go on smoothly. This is usually via a mask placed strategically at the mouth area. A pulse oximeter is fixed at the finger tips to measure oxygen saturation levels and assess adequacy of oxygen delivery. In the event that the patient signs become abnormal, measures should be put in place to restore normal function.

There are several drugs needed to achieve anaesthesia for an endoscopic procedure. This is because one drug may not be able to provide all the necessary conditions for a successful operation. An ideal agent is one that erase the memory of the process from the mind of the patient. These, the so called amnesia. An ideal agent should also be able to keep the patient pain free throughout the entire process. This means that it should have analgesic properties.

At the end of the endoscopic process, the patient has to be woken up from sleep using special reversal agents also called antidotes or antagonists. These reversal agents differ depending on the drug used for anaesthesia. For opioids, naloxone is the reversal agent of choice while flumazenil works against benzodiazepines. Reversal is less complicated than when anaesthesia is being administered because very few technicalities are involved.

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.

Anaesthesia for endoscopy is indicated particularly for disease occurring along the gastrointestinal system. Depending on severity of the illness, anaesthesia can range from mild sedation to full blown sedation where the patient may not be aware of what is going on. The good thing about endoscopy is that it can be both diagnostic and therapeutic. Examples of diseases handled using endoscopic anaesthesia include oesophageal varices, peptic ulcer disease, upper and lower gastrointestinal malignancy.




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