Greenwich Anesthesiology provides anesthesia services to Stamford ASC. Our anesthesia team includes board-certified physicians skilled in various anesthesiology specialties.

Responsibilities Of An Anesthesiologist

Responsibilities of an Anesthesiologist include all phases of a patient’s surgical stay, including pre-operative care and discharge. Anesthesiologists can also be called upon to perform special tests or administer therapeutic anesthetics as a component of a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosis and therapy for
patients with special medical problems.

What Types Of Anesthetics Are Available?

• General Anesthesia: When a general anesthetic is chosen for operation, the patient will be completely unconscious (asleep) for the duration of the procedure, using gas mixtures and intravenous agents. The patient is monitored the entire time by the anesthesiologist. While the patient is asleep, the endotracheal tube is often placed in the windpipe to protect the lungs. This can result in the patient experiencing a scratchy throat post operatively which usually resolves between 12- 24 hours.
• Total Intravenous Anesthesia: Often, the surgeon will place local anesthesia directly in the area to be operated on while the anesthesiologist administers sedation. The patient typically falls asleep and remains sedated comfortably for the entire procedure. The surgeon will perform this in the operating room so the anesthesiologist can monitor the patient fully and administer sedation in a safe environment.
• Nerve Blocks: In some cases the Anesthesiologist may feel that the most effective techniques for performing procedures on the arm, leg or foot is to place an anesthetic through a fine needle near the nerve supply of the area being operated upon, allowing for a pain free procedure. Often a mild sedative will be given to the patient to allay anxiety during the placement of the nerve block and to make the stay in the operating room more pleasant. Some patients may experience side effects such as nausea, headaches, sore throat or weakness, they should be cautioned that the occurrences of such are rare. The practice of Anesthesiology is highly individualized and adapted to the specific requirement of the patient, anesthesiologist, surgeon and operation.

Preoperative

Due to advances in the anesthetic techniques and the use of short acting anesthetic agents, it is possible to enter the surgical center, recover from an anesthetic and leave the facility with a few hours. The anesthesiologist reviews all of the information accumulated during the pre-admission work up the day before surgery. Following careful evaluation, the most appropriate anesthetic plan is then developed.

During your operation: The Anesthesiologist’s job is threefold.

1. To minimize the pain and discomfort from surgery.
2. To establish conditions suitable for the Surgeon to operate.
3. To maintain the patients general health throughout the procedure.

Modern devices are used in the operating room to monitor a patient’s heart, lung function, temperature and the proper functioning of all anesthesia equipment. The choice of monitoring devices employed by the anesthesiologist for a particular operation is based on the complexity of the surgery and the type of anesthesia being administered.

Postoperative

After the procedure is finished, the patient is brought to a recovery room where he/she is under the supervision of the anesthesiologist in consultation with a specially-trained recovery room nurse. After being monitored in the recovery room, the anesthesiologist will discharge the patient.