Spinal Anesthetic

[Freyas Passion]

Thank you, I've never had surgery before for any reason, it scares the hell out of me, it is nice to hear from those that have undergone Spinal Sedation with reassurance of its benefits.

[Tessa James]

Thank you, I've never had surgery before for any reason, it scares the hell out of me, it is nice to hear from those that have undergone Spinal Sedation with reassurance of its benefits.

I administered thousands of spinal, epidural and general anesthetics burring my anesthesia career and personally recommend a local or regional technique whenever possible.  General anesthesia generally effects every cell in our body while the airway manipulations; intubation, LMA and being on a ventilator carry their own risks as you heard.  Spinal and epidural anesthesia do carry a risk of spinal headache, treatable but no fun.  A single "block" spinal anesthetic usually last 1-4 hours while an epidural can include a tiny catheter that allows administration for as long as needed.  Being able to curl up and open the spaces between our vertebral processes is a plus if you can help in that way.  Your lower half may feel like it floated away.

I am a month+ post op from an orchi done with local anesthesia "a block" and sedation.  Comparing our post op recovery rates, I was feeling much better than my peers who had a general anesthetic.  Good to talk it all over with your provider team before sedation.

I bet you are going to do very well and trust you can imagine yourself in the recovery room ready for sips of cool water and having it all behind you.  Best of luck 

[jujubes1986]

I had an epidural (Brassard strongly prefers it) and appreciated it; I was able to avoid the risks and aftereffects of general anesthesia and still had all the benefits of being solidly under during the surgery.

with the epidural... were you awake during the surgery? im asking cuz im getting surgery on october 2016

[jujubes1986]

I administered thousands of spinal, epidural and general anesthetics burring my anesthesia career and personally recommend a local or regional technique whenever possible.  General anesthesia generally effects every cell in our body while the airway manipulations; intubation, LMA and being on a ventilator carry their own risks as you heard.  Spinal and epidural anesthesia do carry a risk of spinal headache, treatable but no fun.  A single "block" spinal anesthetic usually last 1-4 hours while an epidural can include a tiny catheter that allows administration for as long as needed.  Being able to curl up and open the spaces between our vertebral processes is a plus if you can help in that way.  Your lower half may feel like it floated away.

I am a month+ post op from an orchi done with local anesthesia "a block" and sedation.  Comparing our post op recovery rates, I was feeling much better than my peers who had a general anesthetic.  Good to talk it all over with your provider team before sedation.

I bet you are going to do very well and trust you can imagine yourself in the recovery room ready for sips of cool water and having it all behind you.  Best of luck 

being awake sounds scary tho... is there anyway they put you to sleep with epidural?

[Jenna Marie]

Sorry, I guess I should have been clearer. By "solidly under," I meant I was not awake or conscious. I have no memory of surgery at all. They are very careful to make sure that you're not awake. (I believe it's technically called "twilight sedation," which means that it's similar to a very deep sleep, versus general anesthetic inducing a very temporary light coma state. Regardless, with an anesthetist who knows their stuff, there's no chance of being aware enough to realize what's going on.)

[Tessa James]

I agree with Jenna Marie.  Your anesthetist's principle role is vigilance, your safety and comfort.  Degrees of sedation are quite easily titrated with IV medications.  This allows people who wish to be "awake but relaxed" that option and for some who are more anxious or simply wish to forget about it, they can have that level too.  This assumes a generally healthy patient without contraindications for these techniques.

I found that some of us will happily yak yak yak, tell jokes, generally act like someone getting "high" and have a party.  Others need and want to be calm and sedated to the level of deep sleep.  There is a nice range we can achieve.

Being treated as the individual you are is paramount.

[jujubes1986]

Sorry, I guess I should have been clearer. By "solidly under," I meant I was not awake or conscious. I have no memory of surgery at all. They are very careful to make sure that you're not awake. (I believe it's technically called "twilight sedation," which means that it's similar to a very deep sleep, versus general anesthetic inducing a very temporary light coma state. Regardless, with an anesthetist who knows their stuff, there's no chance of being aware enough to realize what's going on.)

thank you... this is a releif... i dont wanna be awake during it... but at the same time im excited that my surgery is coming up... brassard october 2016

[V]

I would say to go for the spinal anaesthetic if you can. I had SRS with Dr. Sanguan in 2003, and due to me crushing my spine in an accident and breaking it in the lower section, three years earlier, I couldn't have SA, and had to have a GA. My SRS was a two stage operation so I had to have two lots of GA within 2 weeks. My body did not take kindly to GA, and I was pretty ill from it. It took 6 months for the stuff to get completely out of my system, so if you can have spinal anaesthetic, you might have an easier time than I did.