Anesthesia

Today's new safe, short acting anesthetic medications and sophisticated monitoring devices enable M.D. Anesthesiologists to provide our patients with the most up-to date and best medical care possible. At Sarasota Plastic Surgery Center we only use Board Certified Anesthesiologists to administer anesthesia services to our patients.

Anesthesiologists are physicians who complete a four-year college program, four years of graduate doctoral training and four more years of anesthesiology residency. They apply their knowledge of medicine to fulfill their primary role in the operating room, which is not only to ensure your comfort during surgery, but also to make informed medical judgements to protect and care for you. These include treating and regulating changes in your critical life functions - breathing, heart rate, blood pressure - as they are affected by the surgery being performed. These medical specialists are the doctors who will immediately diagnose and treat any medical conditions that may arise during your surgery or recovery period.

There are three types of anesthesia utilized at Sarasota Plastic Surgery Center: General, Intravenous Conscious Sedation (IVCS), and Local. With general anesthesia, a medical grade anesthetic gas is administered and you are unconscious and have no awareness of the surgical procedure or other sensations, with IVCS a combination of sedatives and analgesics are administered as appropriate and you are "semi-conscious" in a "twilight sleep" but unaware of the surgical procedure. For some surgical procedures, such as a skin graft, a local anesthetic may be injected into the skin and tissues to numb a specific location for the procedure. These anesthesia options will be discussed with you during your pre-operative appointment with your surgeon.

Many people are apprehensive about surgery or anesthesia. If you are well-informed and know what to expect, you will be better prepared and more relaxed about your surgery. Talk with your surgeon and Anesthesiologist. Ask questions. Discuss any concerns you might have about your planned anesthetic care. Your anesthesiologist is not only your advocate, but also the physician uniquely qualified and experienced to make your surgery and recovery as comfortable as possible.