Types of Anesthesia for Children
What is anesthesia?
During surgery, your child will be given some form of anesthesia. This is medicine
for the relief of pain and any feeling during surgery. The type and dosage of anesthesia
are managed by a healthcare provider who gives the medicine. You and your child will
meet with an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist before the procedure. They will
review your child's medical condition and health history to plan the right anesthetic
for surgery.
What are the different types of anesthesia?
There are different types of anesthesia. The type your child will get will depend
on the type of surgery and your child's medical condition. Usually, a child will also
get a sedative. This is to help them feel relaxed and a little sleepy. This is in
addition to the anesthetic. The different types of anesthesia include:
Local anesthesia
This is given to temporarily stop the feeling of pain in one part of the body. Your
child stays awake with a local anesthetic. For minor surgery, a local anesthetic can
be given by injection to the site. If a large area needs to be numbed, or an injection
will not go deep enough, regional anesthesia may be used.
Regional anesthesia
This is used to numb only the part of the body where the procedure will be done. First,
an injection of local anesthetic is given in the area of nerves that provide feeling
to that part of the body. There are several forms of regional anesthetics. These are
two common types:
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Spinal anesthetic. This is used for lower belly, pelvic, rectal, or leg surgery. This type is used by
injecting a single dose of the anesthetic into the subarachnoid space. This space
surrounds the spinal cord. The injection is made into the lower back, below the end
of the spinal cord. It causes numbness in the lower body. Rarely, continuous spinal
anesthesia may be used. This may be done for a long procedure. A thin tube (catheter)
is left in place in the subarachnoid space. This is used for more injections of the
anesthetic. This ensures numbness during the whole procedure.
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Epidural anesthetic. This is similar to a spinal anesthetic. It's often used for surgery of the lower limbs
and during labor and childbirth. This type of anesthesia is done by continually sending
an anesthetic medicine through a thin catheter. The catheter is placed into the space
that surrounds the spinal cord in the lower back, just outside the subarachnoid space.
This causes numbness in the lower body. Epidural anesthesia may also be used for chest
surgery. In this case, the anesthetic medicine is injected at a higher location in
the back to numb the chest and belly.
General anesthesia
General anesthesia puts your child in a state like deep sleep through surgery. The
medicine may be inhaled through a breathing mask or tube. Or it may be given through
an IV line. This is a thin plastic tube put into a vein. A breathing tube may be put
down into the windpipe to keep proper breathing during surgery. Once the surgery is
done, the anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist stops the anesthetic and the child
wakes up in the recovery room.
After surgery
Once the surgery is done, full recovery from anesthesia continues in the recovery
room. This usually takes 1 to 2 hours. Expect your child to be sleepy and to doze
off often. Some children become very excited and confused when they wake up from anesthesia.
This reaction can be disturbing but usually lasts only a short time.