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CASE NOTES
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PROGRAMME INFO |
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DrÌýMark PorterÌýgives listeners the low-down on what the medical profession does and doesn't know. Each week an expert in the studio tacklesÌýa particular topic and there are reports from around the UK on the health of the nation - and the NHS.
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LISTEN AGAIN Ìý30 min |
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PRESENTER |
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"I spend half my week practising medicine and the other half writing and talking about it as a GP in Gloucestershire. Working on Case Notes has been a boon for both me and my patients. One of the principal aims of the programme is to keep our listeners up-to-date with the latest developments in healthcare, and to accomplish that I get to interview a wide range of specialists at the cutting edge of medicine. A rare privilege that ensures our listeners aren't the only ones to learn something new."
Mark Porter
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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 Full programme transcript >>
Anaesthesia
One third of the population mistakenly believes that an anaesthetist is not a doctor, but these highly trained specialists assess you before a major operation, keep you alive during surgery and monitor your recovery afterwards.
In this episode of Case Notes, Dr Mark Porter trails Dr David Sutton, a consultant anaesthetist at the Wessex Nuffield Hospital in Southampton for a day to discover exactly what the job involves.
And Mark explores the hi-tech monitoring equipment and latest drugs that help the anaesthetists look after their patients.
Types of anaesthesia
There are three types of anaesthetic that an anaesthetist administers:Ìý
- Local anaesthetic, which numbs a small part of the body;
- Regional anaesthetics, such as epidurals or spinal anaesthetics, which are used for operations on deep or large areas of the body;
- General anaesthetic, which is a controlled state of unconsciousness.
The anaesthetist will meet the patient before surgery to work out a pain relief plan for the operation and immediate recovery.
Five fears about anaesthetic
Patients expecting to receive an anaesthetic often express the following five fears:Ìý
- That the anaesthetic won't put them to sleep
- That they won't wake up after the operation
- That they'll wake up during the procedure
- That they'll experience pain following the operation
- That they'll experience nausea following the operation
As Dr Sutton explains, advances in anaesthesia mean that there is little foundation for these concerns.
Sedation in Intensive Care
As well as playing a vital role in surgery, anaesthetists are also involved in emergency medicine and in intensive care.
Patients in intensive care often need sedative drugs to relieve pain and stress while they recover from their conditions.
Trisha McNair visits the Intensive Care Unit at Wythenshawe Hospital in South Manchester where she finds out how advances in the drugs used means patients no longer have to be deeply sedated. |
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RELATED LINKS
Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú Radio 4: Check Up - Anaesthesia
The Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú is not responsible for the content of external websites
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