“Is there an alternative to anesthesia?”
I am a 41 year old male. I will have a surgery under anesthesia. Is there an alternative to anesthesia?
5 Answers
Not really. The only option is to have the procedure (if it is feasible to be it that way) done under local anesthesia, something similar to when you go to your dentist and he/she gives you an injection with local anesthetics (numbing medication). But the main deciding factor is what kind of surgical procedure you will have, as some of them cannot be done (under any circumstances) with local anesthesia.
There are sometimes alternatives, but it all depends on what surgery you’re having and what are your underlying health issues.
This really depends on the type of surgery you are having. If the surgery can be done under a regional anesthesia, like a peripheral nerve block where an extremity can be numbed, then minimal if any anesthesia can be administered and you can safely undergo surgery. Some surgeries like abdominal surgery, heart, lung, etc., require anesthesia.
Depending on the type of surgery you can have regional anesthesia (epidural or spinal for a leg or abdominal operation), nerve block (for arm or shoulder surgery) and for some surgeries you can have sedation instead of general anesthesia. You can discuss all these alternatives with your anesthesiologist.
Dr. J. Arthur Saus
Anesthesiologist
There are alternatives to just about everything in life. However, I can't imagine that anyone would want to submit to surgery willingly, without the administration of some type of anesthesia.
