Hospital unit providing continuous monitoring of the patient following anesthesia.
The period of emergence from general anesthesia, where different elements of consciousness return at different rates.
Facilities equipped for performing surgery.
The specialty or practice of nursing in the care of patients in the recovery room following surgery and/or anesthesia.
Surgery performed on an outpatient basis. It may be hospital-based or performed in an office or surgicenter.
Pain during the period after surgery.
A partial or complete return to the normal or proper physiologic activity of an organ or part following disease or trauma.
Procedure in which patients are induced into an unconscious state through use of various medications so that they do not feel pain during surgery.
Deliberate introduction of air into the peritoneal cavity.
The intentional interruption of transmission at the NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION by external agents, usually neuromuscular blocking agents. It is distinguished from NERVE BLOCK in which nerve conduction (NEURAL CONDUCTION) is interrupted rather than neuromuscular transmission. Neuromuscular blockade is commonly used to produce MUSCLE RELAXATION as an adjunct to anesthesia during surgery and other medical procedures. It is also often used as an experimental manipulation in basic research. It is not strictly speaking anesthesia but is grouped here with anesthetic techniques. The failure of neuromuscular transmission as a result of pathological processes is not included here.
The period of care beginning when the patient is removed from surgery and aimed at meeting the patient's psychological and physical needs directly after surgery. (From Dictionary of Health Services Management, 2d ed)
Drugs administered before an anesthetic to decrease a patient's anxiety and control the effects of that anesthetic.
ENDOSCOPES for examining the abdominal and pelvic organs in the peritoneal cavity.
Process of administering an anesthetic through injection directly into the bloodstream.
Emesis and queasiness occurring after anesthesia.
Lower than normal body temperature, especially in warm-blooded animals.
Procedure in which an anesthetic is injected directly into the spinal cord.
The period following a surgical operation.
A state characterized by loss of feeling or sensation. This depression of nerve function is usually the result of pharmacologic action and is induced to allow performance of surgery or other painful procedures.
A potent narcotic analgesic, abuse of which leads to habituation or addiction. It is primarily a mu-opioid agonist. Fentanyl is also used as an adjunct to general anesthetics, and as an anesthetic for induction and maintenance. (From Martindale, The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 30th ed, p1078)
Pathologic processes that affect patients after a surgical procedure. They may or may not be related to the disease for which the surgery was done, and they may or may not be direct results of the surgery.
Nitrogen oxide (N2O). A colorless, odorless gas that is used as an anesthetic and analgesic. High concentrations cause a narcotic effect and may replace oxygen, causing death by asphyxia. It is also used as a food aerosol in the preparation of whipping cream.
A method of studying a drug or procedure in which both the subjects and investigators are kept unaware of who is actually getting which specific treatment.
Ultrashort-acting anesthetics that are used for induction. Loss of consciousness is rapid and induction is pleasant, but there is no muscle relaxation and reflexes frequently are not reduced adequately. Repeated administration results in accumulation and prolongs the recovery time. Since these agents have little if any analgesic activity, they are seldom used alone except in brief minor procedures. (From AMA Drug Evaluations Annual, 1994, p174)
Interruption of NEURAL CONDUCTION in peripheral nerves or nerve trunks by the injection of a local anesthetic agent (e.g., LIDOCAINE; PHENOL; BOTULINUM TOXINS) to manage or treat pain.
Complications that affect patients during surgery. They may or may not be associated with the disease for which the surgery is done, or within the same surgical procedure.
Compounds with activity like OPIATE ALKALOIDS, acting at OPIOID RECEPTORS. Properties include induction of ANALGESIA or NARCOSIS.
A disorder characterized by CONFUSION; inattentiveness; disorientation; ILLUSIONS; HALLUCINATIONS; agitation; and in some instances autonomic nervous system overactivity. It may result from toxic/metabolic conditions or structural brain lesions. (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, pp411-2)
A procedure in which a laparoscope (LAPAROSCOPES) is inserted through a small incision near the navel to examine the abdominal and pelvic organs in the PERITONEAL CAVITY. If appropriate, biopsy or surgery can be performed during laparoscopy.
Observation of a population for a sufficient number of persons over a sufficient number of years to generate incidence or mortality rates subsequent to the selection of the study group.
A stable, non-explosive inhalation anesthetic, relatively free from significant side effects.
A widely used local anesthetic agent.
Drugs that block nerve conduction when applied locally to nerve tissue in appropriate concentrations. They act on any part of the nervous system and on every type of nerve fiber. In contact with a nerve trunk, these anesthetics can cause both sensory and motor paralysis in the innervated area. Their action is completely reversible. (From Gilman AG, et. al., Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 8th ed) Nearly all local anesthetics act by reducing the tendency of voltage-dependent sodium channels to activate.
Elements of limited time intervals, contributing to particular results or situations.
Scales, questionnaires, tests, and other methods used to assess pain severity and duration in patients or experimental animals to aid in diagnosis, therapy, and physiological studies.
The principal alkaloid in opium and the prototype opiate analgesic and narcotic. Morphine has widespread effects in the central nervous system and on smooth muscle.
The period of confinement of a patient to a hospital or other health facility.