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A: Our licensed technician is one of
two people whose job it is to assist the doctor and monitor
anesthetic depth. She also regularly checks the patient’s vital
signs, and compares them to the automatic readings obtained by
the anesthesia software,
as an extra measure of safety.
B:
You can just see the laptop on which we display our
anesthesia monitoring
equipment. With this, we monitor heart rate, respiratory
rate, blood oxygenation, core body temperature, and an ECG
tracing on all our anesthetized patients.
C: At regular intervals throughout
the procedure the patient’s systolic blood pressure is checked,
and any needed adjustments are made. This is an important value
to track, for low blood pressure is one of the most common
complications under anesthesia.
D: Intravenous fluids are being
given to this patient, and the fluid pump carefully regulates
the rate. Fluids are one of the best ways to combat hypotension,
or low blood pressure. An IV catheter also gives us immediate
access to a vein if emergency drugs ever needed to be given.
E: Our surgery table is heated to
help keep the patient warm.
F: This blue tube is part of our
inhalation anesthetic system, which keeps the patient asleep by
breathing a carefully controlled combination of oxygen and
anesthetic gas. An “ endotracheal tube” is always inserted in
the patient’s windpipe to safely keep their airway open.
G: Since avoiding infection is so
important, a fresh sterile surgical pack of instruments is used
on each patient.
H: The “crash cart” in the surgical
suite is outfitted with all the supplies that might be needed in
the case of an emergency so they are readily accessible at all
times.
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