For Patients

The General Role of the Anaesthetist

 

The role of the anaesthetist for any type of surgery can be thought about in three stages, pre-operative, intra-operative and post-operative care.

 

  • Prior to any surgery, your anaesthetist determines your health status and ensures that it is optimised. He or she works with you to decide what type of anaesthetic technique would give you the best outcome. A very important part of the pre-operative process is to provide information and allay anxiety.
  • During surgery, your anaesthetist remains with you while the surgery proceeds, monitors the functions of your heart and lungs, replaces lost fluids. It is your anaesthetist that diagnoses and treats any unexpected events. It is not really an exaggeration when people say, the anaesthetist keeps you alive.
  • Post-operatively your anaesthetist may be responsible for pain and fluid management and for any complications not of a surgical nature. This responsibility often means being available at any time day or night for up to 2 days postoperatively.

 

Preparation for Surgery

 

As a patient there are several things that you can do in the lead up to surgery to give you a better outcome. Increasing general fitness, eating a healthy diet, losing weight and stopping smoking have major benefits. Getting on top of your blood pressure or diabetes may require medication adjustments. 


Completing your pre-operative questionnaire, having a check-up with any of your usual specialists, and providing results of any blood tests, heart tests or lung function tests, is of immense value to your anaesthetist in planning your surgery. Some supplements and herbal medications can interact with medicines used during anaesthesia and are often stopped in the weeks prior to surgery.


It is essential that you have a list of all the medicines you are taking and have them checked. Your GP can help you in all these tasks.

 

Preoperative Assessment and Anaesthetic Technique

 

The pre-operative task of your anaesthetist is to take your medical history, examine you, order any relevant tests (or review the ones you already have) and to come up with an anaesthetic plan. You, as the patient, can have an active role in that process. 


As anaesthetists, the best that we can do is to discuss what we regard as the most suitable options for you and for both patient and anaesthetist to agree on the final plan.


Options that your anaesthetist may present you with are:

 

  • General anaesthesia or sedation
  • Epidural or spinal anaesthesia
  • One or more specific nerve blocks
  • Infiltration of the surgical area with local anaesthetics

 

Often these choices are combined, such as a general anaesthetic and a spinal, or a general anaesthetic and a nerve block. Combination techniques often avoid using too much of a given drug so as to avoid any potential disadvantages.


There are as many ways to give an anaesthetic as there are anaesthetists to give them. Just as you have chosen your surgeon, your surgeon has chosen the anaesthetist. It is a safe bet that the anaesthetist and surgeon have both been working together to improve outcomes from a surgical and anaesthetic perspective and that the options you are presented with are the best they can offer you. It is your right to make sure that you understand what is being offered by your anaesthetist and why.


Dr Brinkmann works with surgeons who are experts in their fields, and have national and international recognition. As a team, Dr Brinkmann and her surgeons are passionate about providing the safest and most optimal surgical journey, and delivering the best outcome for patients.