Dr. J. Arthur Saus M.D., Anesthesiologist
We verify the medical license of each FindaTopDoc Verified Doctor to ensure that their license is active and they are in good medical standing.

Dr. J. Arthur Saus M.D.

Anesthesiologist | Pain Medicine

2/5(2)
Write A Review
Rating

2/5

About

J. Arthur Saus, MD, FASA, is an Associate Professor of Anesthesiology at Ochsner LSU Health in Shreveport, LA. Dr. Saus teaches Anesthesiology Residents, Medical Students, and and Nurse Anesthesia Students, and supervises Nurse Anesthetists who administer anesthesia to patients for their surgical procedure. During surgery, he ensures the safety of patients who are undergo anesthesia administration for surgery and assures their safe recovery from anesthesia. Anesthesiologists specialize in general anesthesia, which will put the patient to sleep for a surgical procedure, sedation, which will calm the patient or make him or her unaware of the situation, and regional anesthesia, which just numbs a specific part of the body. As an anesthesiologist, Dr. Saus along with the Anesthesiology Residents Training at Ochsner LSU Health also help manage a patient's pain after an operation.

Education and Training

Medical University of South Carolina MD 1985

Board Certification

American Board of Anesthesiology

American Board of Pain Medicine

Provider Details

MaleEnglish
Dr. J. Arthur Saus M.D.
Dr. J. Arthur Saus M.D.'s Expert Contributions
  • What type of anesthesia is used for neck surgery?

    Neck surgery is typically done under general anesthesia, unless it is something superficial such as removing a nevus, i.e. a "mole" from the neck. If the neck surgery to which you are referring is a superficial skin modification, it may be accomplished under a local anesthetic to make the area "numb". But in general, a more extensive neck surgery would be done with the patient completely unaware of anything going on, as in general anesthesia. READ MORE

  • Why is anesthesia dangerous for the elderly?

    The rates of drug removal from the body are typically modified in the elderly. I would not necessarily say the "anesthesia is dangerous for the elderly", but certainly the patient's age should be a consideration which is taken into account when planning and administering anesthesia. READ MORE

  • Why do local anesthetics cause vasodilation?

    Local anesthetics typically block the nerve input to blood vessels in the local area which are responsible for providing the message which cause constriction of blood vessels. If an anesthetic agent is administered which interferes with the messages from nerves in the area to cause blood vessels to constrict, the result is that they tend to dilate. It's not really that the anesthetic causes vessel dilation itself, but rather by blocking the nerve input to constrict, vessel diction naturally occurs. READ MORE

  • How can I make dental anesthesia wear off faster?

    In a practical sense, there is really nothing you can do to make the effects of a local or regional block wear off any faster. But there are multiple drugs which may be used for a local or regional anesthetic block, and some of them wear off more quickly, while others have a longer duration of action. READ MORE

  • How long does local anesthetic last after a dental implant?

    The duration of a local anesthetic effect following a dental implant depends on exactly which medication is administered to accomplish the local anesthetic (or "numbing") effect. Some medications provide a long lasting numbness, while other medications have a shorter duration of action. READ MORE

  • Is it ok to go under anesthesia with a cold?

    In the ideal world, it would be better to avoid general anesthesia whenever the patient has a "cold" or any other respiratory compromise situation. However, we all live in the "real world", and not in an "ideal world". Sometimes despite a "cold" or an upper respiratory situation that may present less than ideal situations, the best situation for the patient is to avoid delaying a surgical procedure. In that case, everyone has to simply make the best of a less than ideal situation, when the surgery is deemed urgent or emergent. For a purely elective surgical procedure, in my opinion, yes, it would certainly be better to wait until the patient does not have any symptoms of any respiratory compromise. READ MORE

  • How do you get rid of anesthesia numbness fast?

    There is really nothing you can normally do as a patient to "speed up" the return of sensation following a regional anesthesia block. However, a block may last a shorter or longer time based on many factors, most of which are exactly which medications were used in the anesthetic, and exactly where and how they were deposited into the body tissue. READ MORE

  • Do you need anesthesia for an appendectomy?

    I guess it would be possible for an appendectomy to be done without anesthesia, but it would be horribly unpleasant. An appendectomy is a major surgical procedure, and any patient would want to have anesthesia administered before this surgical procedure begins. READ MORE

  • How long does local anesthesia last for hand surgery?

    There is no easy answer for this question, as the duration of effect depends on multiple factors. There are a few different medications which can be injected to provide local anesthesia or a regional nerve block. Additionally, there are "additives" that can be mixed in with the local anesthesia prior to injection, such as epinephrine, that prolong the duration of anesthesia. Additionally it depends to some extent on exactly how the injection is made, such as whether it is just injected under the skin to provide local anesthesia or if it is injected around a nerve bundle to provide a regional block. Finally, it depends on the patient's blood flow and clearance mechanisms that are somewhat unique to each individual. These mechanisms determine the speed at which the deposited bolus on anesthetic is either metabolized (broken down), removed from the site in which it was deposited, and ultimately removed from the body. READ MORE

  • How do you detox after general anesthesia?

    I'm sorry, but I do not understand your question, or the basis for your question of a "detox" following general anesthesia. Medications used to accomplish general anesthesia have "built-in" clearance mechanisms. While those medications provide very powerful effects on the body (specifically the nervous system) to provide loss of sensation of pain or the provision of complete unconsciousness, they function in only a temporary manner. In general, there is no other substance that can be added to the body to "detox" anesthetic agents (which I'm interpreting to mean you are asking about a way to make anesthetic agents leave the body more rapidly). If you mean something different by your question, please re-ask in a different manner. I may be misunderstanding your question. But all anesthetic agents have only temporary effects in the body. They are specifically intended to have only short-term actions, and have actions that generally can be well controlled by the physician anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist who is administering those substances. READ MORE

  • Can anesthesia cause constipation?

    This brings up a good discussion of anesthesia, and probably a broader discussion than what your question intended. The answer may be confusing on the surface, because the answer is No, Yes, and Maybe. Here's the deeper explanation: "anesthesia" is made up of many different pharmacologic agents that can be administered to the body in different ways. for a few broad, general categories, those ways may be local anesthesia, regional anesthesia (i.e. "nerve blocks"), or general anesthesia. Within each of those broad categories of anesthesia, there can be many different medications used to accomplish each of those categories of anesthesia. For instance, there are many different drugs that can be selected to provide local anesthesia or nerve blocks. Often, the specific medication or group of medications selected depends on the duration of loss of sensation that is desired for the procedure, or a specific medication may be selected to avoid specific medication effects or side-effects. Likewise, when selecting medications for general anesthesia, resulting in complete unconsciousness, there are many different medications that may be selected, or even a "blend" of those medications may be selected. Within that "blend" it is certainly clearly recognized that some medications which either cause general anesthesia by themselves at the right dose, or contribute to general anesthesia when mixed with other medications with anesthesia properties, have a side-effect of promoting the effects of constipation. The most obvious of these medications where constipation tends to be a "side-effect" is whenever any opioid medication is used. These opioid medications are often referred to as "narcotics". But there are many other medications that are not anesthesia agents that also tend to cause constipation. Essentially any medication that encourages more water absorption into the body from the contents inside the intestine tends to promote constipation. Since all "narcotics" tend to slow the transit time through the intestine, it gives more time for water to be absorbed from whatever is inside the intestine. A greater amount of water absorption results in a material moving through with less remaining fluid. Less remain fluid in that mass, makes it more difficult to pass that mass through the intestine and completely out of the body. This is what is recognized as "constipation". READ MORE

  • Can anesthesia cause panic attacks?

    Anesthesia agents do not "cause" panic attacks. However, there is a range in depth of anesthesia that is carefully controlled by the anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist administering the anesthesia medications. Not all of the central nervous system (including the various parts of the brain) respond in exactly the same manner at exactly the same time to exactly the same concentration of anesthesia. This tends to be more noticeable when the level of anesthetizing is not "deep". Anesthesia can be controlled to provide lighter amounts of anesthesia administration or deeper amounts. If the patient is anxious, and deep anesthesia is not rapidly established, there may be a point in which the inhibitions to fright or "panic" become anesthetized, but consciousness is not yet anesthetized. This could happen during the beginning of anesthesia administration or at the end of anesthesia administration, at times when lower levels of anesthesia are present in the body for some (generally short and transient) amount of time. So the answer is that while anesthesia does not CAUSE panic attacks (per your question), anesthesia administration may facilitate at least temporary levels of the sensation of loss of control, in which some people may develop a sensation of panic. That's one reason why the beginning of anesthesia, generally referred to as the period of "induction" of anesthesia, is often done in such as manner as to rapidly progress from fully conscious to deeply unconscious. This helps minimize the duration of any type of discomfort associated with this transition of states of consciousness. READ MORE

  • What age is safe for anesthesia?

    There is no specific age that can be considered "unsafe" or "safe" for anesthesia. Anesthesia is administered to persons of all ages from newborn babies, who may be not even a few hours old all the way up to very elderly patients, even those who are over 100 years old. The relative risks of anesthesia administration have much more to do with the patients co-existing medical conditions which they bring to that point of anesthesia administration, instead of the patient's age. READ MORE

  • Can you wear contacts for a short anesthesia procedure?

    It is not advisable. There are many reasons for this. Wearing contacts during even a short procedure increases the potential risk of eye injury. During administration of anesthesia, all reflexes are blunted, and this includes the reflex of blinking, which helps keep contact lenses moistened and essentially "floating" on the eye. READ MORE

  • What should I do before general anesthesia?

    The first thoughts I have in answering this question is to say first, take all of your routine medications as they were prescribed, unless your anesthesiologist tells you otherwise in a pre-operative evaluation (which should be done days before the procedure, not at the last minute). Be sure your anesthesiologist knows everything about your health, and any medical problems you might have. DO NOT EAT any solid food for at least 8 hours prior to the procedure. The optimal preparation also include staying away from any smoking materials for at least 2 weeks. Many anesthesiologists feel it is OK to drink any clear liquid (one that you can read a newspaper through a glass of it) up until 2 hours prior to the administration of anesthesia, but while this could be discussed and requested, it should be up to the anesthesiologist who is responsible for your anesthesia to decide in your particular case if this is appropriate or not. It is not possible to make statements which cover everything that an individual should or should not do prior to any administration of anesthesia for any type of surgery. That's why the best advice is for you to discuss what you should or should not do with your anesthesiologist for your surgical procedure. in answer to this question, I can provide only generalizations that must be "fine-tuned" for the surgical procedure. READ MORE

  • Is local anesthesia used during breast biopsy?

    It might be possible. At the same time, even if it is possible, that might not be practical. The best advice is to present this question to your anesthesiologist and surgeon, then see what their responses are for your particular situation. READ MORE

  • Is general anesthesia used during brain tumor removal?

    Generally, yes, general anesthesia is used for most brain surgery. However, there are particular types of brain surgery that are done while the patient is awake. The best answer fro this question in your particular case into talk with the neurosurgeon and anesthesiologist involved in your particular surgery, READ MORE

  • Do you have to be intubated for general anesthesia?

    For an appendectomy with general anesthesia, yes, intubation is needed. Intubation provides a mechanism by which the right amount of breathing can be assured. This is necessary to get the right amount of carbon dioxide out of your lungs, and the right amount of fresh oxygen into your lungs. Administration of anesthesia stops your ability to breathe normally for yourself, or at least markedly reduces it to unsafe levels. On the other hand, if your surgery was on an extremity, such as a hand, arm, leg, or foot, my answer would be different, and I would say that intubation of surgery would not be necessary as there are other anesthesia techniques available which would eliminate pain from the extremity. But for a surgical procedure to remove an appendix, which requires surgery to be dome on the abdomen, it is easiest and best for everybody involved, the patient, surgeon, and all other personnel in the Operating Room, for it to be done under general anesthesia and with intubation. Fortunately, an appendectomy is usually a fairly straightforward procedure, and while intubation is needed at the beginning of the procedure, extubation (removing the breathing tube) can come rapidly at the end of the procedure. READ MORE

  • What drug is used for general anesthesia?

    There are many different drugs used for general anesthesia, and different routes of administering them. In most instances in children who are old enough to be in school, and in adults, an IV is placed first (usually in one arm or hand) and Intravenous medications are administered to initiate the state of general anesthesia. General anesthesia is them maintained by inhalation of gases that provide anesthesia, and when these are discontinued at the end of the surgical procedure, consciousness returns fairly rapidly. In general, the drugs used in children are the same as used in adults, but the dose of each of the drugs administered is adjusted for the smaller body size of the child, just as the dose is adjusted for smaller adults when compared to larger adults. READ MORE

  • How often does anesthetic awareness happens?

    Awareness during general anesthesia is extremely rare! But when it does occur in those rare cases, it makes a lot of news (probably because it is such an uncommon phenomenon). Most of the time when it occurs, the cause of awareness under general anesthesia is not understood. There are other very rare times when awareness occurs because of a mistake in administration of anesthesia medications or a malfunction of some component of the equipment used to carefully administer the correct dose of the anesthetic agent. READ MORE

Areas of expertise and specialization

Anesthesiology

Faculty Titles & Positions

  • Associate Professor LSU Health 2018 - 2018

Professional Memberships

  • American Society of Anesthesiologists  

Areas of research

Examination of the production of pain occasionally experienced with administration of Propofol

Dr. J. Arthur Saus M.D.'s reviews

(2)
Write Review

Patient Experience with Dr. Saus


2.0

Based on 2 reviews

Dr. J. Arthur Saus M.D. has a rating of 2 out of 5 stars based on the reviews from 2 patients. FindaTopDoc has aggregated the experiences from real patients to help give you more insights and information on how to choose the best Anesthesiologist in your area. These reviews do not reflect a providers level of clinical care, but are a compilation of quality indicators such as bedside manner, wait time, staff friendliness, ease of appointment, and knowledge of conditions and treatments.

Recommended Articles

  • Shortness of Breath – When to See a Doctor

    Shortness of breath, medically known as dyspnea, is described as a strong tightening in the chest, a feeling of suffocation or air hunger. The description of shortness of breath varies depending on its cause.Maximum cases of shortness of breath are observed in patients suffering from any heart or...

  • What Are Rheumatoid Nodules?

    Rheumatoid nodules are small, firm lumps that form subcutaneously near the affected joints in people with rheumatoid arthritis. About 25% to 35% of people with rheumatoid arthritis develop nodules in different parts of the body. These lumps are often connected to the skin through tendons or fascia....

  • Recovery After a Laminectomy

    Laminectomy is a surgical procedure done for the removal of the lamina, bone spurs, and ligaments that may be putting pressure on your spinal nerves and causing lower back pain. The procedure is said to be one of the most commonly performed back surgeries. Below is a detailed information on what...

  • Different Types of Physicians Explained

    Doctors or physicians are categorized according to different factors including medical specialties and subspecialties. Most doctors specialize in a specific area of medicine. This article provides a summary of the different types of doctors in the medical field. AllergistsAllergists are also...

  • What Are the Risks of Laminectomy?

    Your doctor will first attempt to give you other alternative treatments before recommending surgery. If your back pain still persists after treatment, your doctor may suggest for surgery as one of the solutions. Laminectomy is the most probable surgical procedure that you will have to undergo.Facts...

  • What Is the Epiglottis?

    What is Epiglottis?Epiglottis is a elastic flap of tissue that is shaped like a thin leaf and situated at the root of the tongue. It protects the opening between the vocal cords, known as the entrance of the glottis. Epiglottis is covered with mucous membrane, which is a yellow elastic cartilage...