Effective Methods Of Pain Control During Surgical Operations

In the 19th century, there was an uprising in anesthesia use (Emanuel 1). In 1846, Dr. John Warren, Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, author of Etherization; with surgical remarks, led the first operation using ether anesthesia. He noted that ether might be used in “mitigating the agonies of death” (Robinson 1). Doctors as well as physicians became more competent in the use of morphine injections for pain relief during the times of the Civil War, and this practice shortly became known on a wide scale (SC 1). Joseph Bullar, in the British Medical Journal described his use of chloroform to alleviate the pain that may accompany death on four different individuals

Anesthesiologists give patients anesthetics in a variety of ways, such as “orally, intravenously, by gas or direct injection to render patients insensible to pain Anesthesiologists typically maintain the same daily schedule a surgeon follows, participating in both scheduled and unscheduled operations. Anesthesiologists are responsible for determining the proper anesthetic and dosage level for each patient. They monitor the patients progress prior to, during, and after surgery.”(“Anesthesiologist” 31)

The role of the nurse anesthetist gradually developed as the demand increased for individuals who were highly and meticulously trained in anesthesia administration in an era where knowledge of germs, antisepsis and surgical interventions was emerging. During the 1800s, medical students were often responsible in the administration of anesthesia under the direct supervision of surgeons but the increased mortality rates in intraoperative patients suggested the need to reevaluate who would provide anesthesia. As a result of negative patient outcomes, surgeons turned to nurses, who served to be an adequate and reliable replacement. This trend proved to be catalytic in the movement of the nurse anesthetist.

(History of Nurse Anesthesia Practice. 2010, May), (Koch, E., Downey, P., Kelly, J. W., & Wilson, W. 2001).

The practice of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) has been around for approximately four decades now. During this time there have been improvements to the technology and the understanding of how to use this form of patient pain control; however, there continues to be concern related to the safety and efficacy of PCA. As this analysis proceeds it will briefly explain what PCA is and how it is used, then delve into the benefits and the safety issues surrounding PCA use as it pertains to the patient and the nurse. Some of the benefits of PCA include improved pain management, improved use of nursing resources, increased patient satisfaction, and reduced pulmonary issues (Hicks, Sikirica, Nelson, Schein & Cousins, 2008). Some of the safety

Anesthesia was developed in order to block or prevent pain during medical procedures. Anesthesia has been the backbone of the medical world for around 100 years now. Early anesthetics were primitive and many patients simply did not trust anesthetics. Anesthesia is still a risky process even in todays advanced medical world. Anesthesia is not used to treat or diagnose any specific disease; the sole purpose is to aid both the patient and surgeon through procedures. However, anesthesia is used in different ways based on the magnitude of the procedure. There are three levels of anesthesia which include; local, regional, and general anesthesia. An anesthesiologist determines which type of anesthesia will be needed.

Despite recent advances in information regarding perioperative care, postoperative pain continues to go undermanaged. Postoperative pain is the pain patients experience after a surgical procedure. According to Gan, 80% of all people who undergo surgeries experience postoperative pain, and 75% of them rate their pain at a moderate, severe, or extreme level (as cited by Cooney, 2016). Furthermore, inadequately managed pain can lead to patient dissatisfaction, decreased patient outcomes, and overall higher cost of care (Penprase, Brunetto, Dahmani, Forthoffer & Kapoor, 2015). In order to provide higher quality pain management,

In the late 1800s doctors knowledge and standards were considered to be dangerous.Anesthesia was not yet discovered as an alternative doctors had their patients restrained by assistants or leather covered chains.These

The American society of Anesthesiology defines it as being “The Practice of medicine dedicated to the relief of pain and total care of the surgical patient before, during, and after surgery.” Before the creation of modern anesthesia, there were other methods of reducing pain, which often did more harm than good. One of which was alcohol, which was given to the patient so that they could tolerate pain during surgery, but the practice was highly dangerous, particularly in blood loss complications. The other alternative to anesthesia was giving the patient opiates, however they are also quite dangerous as they can become highly addictive and can carry dangerous side effects.

Anesthesiologists are responsible for monitoring the amounts of medicine given to the patient, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. They also help make procedures safe and secure. Before anesthesia was discovered other methods were used to numb or induce sleep. Native Americans and other groups used natural herbs such as coca leaves, marijuana, and Jimsonweed to offer pain relief, sedation, or amnesia during surgery. However, in 1846 a dentist name Dr. William Morton performed a procedure removing a tumor from a patient’s jaw at Massachusetts General Hospital, changing everything. Before the surgery, Dr. Morton soaked a sponge with ether to make his patient go unconscious and after the patient woke up, they claimed to not have any memory

Anesthetics are used to control a number of critical functions during surgery including inducing a balanced state of unconsciousness, managing the sensation of pain, causing temporary paralysis of skeletal muscle and slowing of the bodies autonomic responses thereby allowing the surgical team to complete increasingly long, difficult and invasive procedures with minimal discomfort to the patient and limited risk of post surgical

Before the Industrial Revolution, the process of surgery was an unpleasant experience for the lives of many patients. It was rare that surgery was scheduled in advance and was only done in a “last and desperate resort”(Neurosurgical Service 1996). Historical surgical procedures could be seen as being barbaric today with going far back to Ancient Greece of cutting off the limb or drilling into the head to “rid the body of spirits” without any pain killer at all(Hartford Stage). This also becomes apparent in medieval ages in which most surgeons were also barbers and take care of soldiers by performing bloodletting. When the scientific revolution happened the studying of our anatomy allowed scientists to create ways of how to nullify the pain

Anesthesia is the loss of feeling or sensation. It may be accomplished without the loss of consciousness, or with partial or total loss of consciousness. Anesthesia has not been around forever, but there is a background history of its creation and the primitive anesthetics used before anesthesia was discovered. Today there are many different anesthetics and delivery methods dependent to the type of procedure. Anesthesiologists and nurse anesthetists are a crucial part of the surgical team. Without anesthesia where would we be today?

Anesthesia is the pain reliever to people who have a chronic pain to those who need to get their wisdom

At Massachusetts General Hospital ethers anesthesia essentially became a ground breaking moment in medical history. Prior to this amazing discovery, patient would be highly intoxicated or knocked on conscious to undergo medical procedures. In 1846 Dr. William T.G. Morton, a Boston dentist, made medical history, he administered ether anesthetic to a patient via inhalation which made for a painless surgical procedure, the patient comfortable slept through the procedure and awoke with little to no pain ( Fenster et al , 2001). The Ether dome served as a surgical amphitheater between 1821 and 1867. The actual room has theater seating so there isn’t a bad seat in the house!