Health Library
The Health Library is a collection of health and wellness resources created for learning and accessibility. Select a topic below for related health information or search for a topic in the search bar for more information on other medical conditions.
Anesthesia
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Muscle relaxants are medicines that block the nerve impulses to the muscles. They sometimes are also referred to as neuromuscular blocking agents. These medicines are often used during general anesthesia, but they do not usually affect whether you...
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People receiving anesthesia must be carefully watched, because the medicines used for anesthesia affect the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and respiratory system (airway and lungs). Anesthesia suppresses many of the body's normal...
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As part of preparing for a medical procedure requiring anesthesia, you will have an exam to check on your health and to identify any health risks that may affect your anesthesia care. Tell your anesthesia specialist about your health history,...
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What is anesthesia? Anesthesia is a way to control pain during a surgery or procedure by using medicine called anesthetics. It can help control your breathing, blood pressure, blood flow, and heart rate and rhythm. Anesthesia may be used to: Relax you. Block pain. Make you sleepy or forgetful...
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Learn about general anesthesia: what it is, how it's done, and its safety and side effects.
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You and your birth partner can take part more fully in a vaginal birth than you can in a cesarean delivery. During a cesarean, the mother gets either a regional anesthetic or a general anesthetic. She can't fully take part in her baby's birth. Some...
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General anesthesia is a combination of medicines that you inhale or receive through a needle in a vein to cause you to become unconscious. It affects your whole body. Under anesthesia, you should be completely unaware and not feel pain during the...
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Local anesthesia uses medicine to block sensations of pain from a specific area of the body. Local anesthetics are usually given by injection into the body area that needs to be anesthetized. They are not injected into the bloodstream (intravenous,...
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Local anesthesia for childbirth is most commonly given as a shot that numbs the area around the vagina just before an episiotomy is done. An episiotomy is a cut made in the tissue between the vagina and anus just before the baby's head starts to emerge. (The tissue is called the perineum.) The cut makes the vaginal...
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Regional anesthesia is the use of local anesthetics to block sensations of pain from a large area of the body, such as an arm or leg or the abdomen. Regional anesthesia allows a procedure to be done on a region of the body without your being...
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A doctor may use procedural sedation for a minor procedure that needs only small amounts of anesthesia and doesn't require an anesthesia specialist to be there. This type of sedation uses local anesthesia with sedatives to relax you. You may or may...