The patient is kept asleep and general anaesthesia (GA) pain free throughout the procedure using continuous administration of anaesthetics. At the end of surgery, the effect of anaesthetics is reversed and he/she is woken up.

Regional anesthesia (RA)

where the patient is awake but the part to be operated upon is made temporarily numb using injection of local anaesthetics. If the injection is made into the fluid surrounding the spinal cord, it is called spinal anaesthesia. If local anaesthetics are injected around the sheath covering spinal cord, it is called epidural anaesthesia. If the injection is made around individual nerve groups, it is called plexus block.

Monitored anesthesia care (MAC)

Some surgeries can be done using local anesthesia where the injection is made immediately around the part to be operated upon. This is suitable for-relatively minor surgeries. However, if there is a worry that the patient can get anxious or that the surgery might be more extensive than anticipated, anesthetists are requested to be ‘stand-by’ to administer sedation, pain relief or anesthesia as required.