Dr. Edwin Perez, a board-certified anesthesiologist, has administered general, local, and regional anesthesia to a diverse population of patients. Dr. Edwin Perez draws on experience with general anesthesia in all types of surgical cases.
General anesthesia typically progresses through four stages. Stage I is also known as induction and begins with the first administration of anesthesia. During this phase, the anesthesia has not yet taken effect, which means that the patient is still conscious and can feel pain.
Stage II, or the excitement stage, follows the loss of consciousness. It involves erratic breathing, an irregular heart rate, and nausea as well as dilation of the pupils. Because these symptoms can be dangerous, anesthesiologists usually administer preliminary drugs before the anesthesia in order to shorten this phase.
Stage III is known as surgical anesthesia, as the patient is in the state in which the surgeon can perform the procedure. The muscles relax, breathing slows, and eye movement slows to a stop. The anesthesiologist's primary job in surgery is to expedite the patient's progression to this stage and to keep him or her stable in it until the surgeon is finished.
The anesthesiologist must also avoid progression into Stage IV, or overdose. In this stage, the patient has received an excess of medication. This suppresses activity in the medulla or brain stem, and in turn the patient's cardiovascular and respiratory systems fail. If the medical team does not bring the patient out of Stage IV quickly, the experience can be fatal.
