World Anesthesia Day is celebrated on October 16 every year. World Anesthesia Day is celebrated to commemorate the first successful demonstration of diethyl ether anesthesia on 16 October 1846. This marks as one of the most significant events in the history of medicine and took place in an operating theater (now known as the Ether Dome) at the Massachusetts General Hospital, home of the Harvard School of Medicine. The discovery made it possible for patients to obtain the benefits of surgical treatment without the pain associated with an operation.

Anesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical purposes. During an operation, anesthesia puts a patient into temporary unconsciousness.

An anesthesiologist or anesthetist is a physician who specializes in the administration of anesthesia before, during or after a surgical procedure. the anesthetist’s role is not just limited to the time of surgery, but has permeated into the fields of pain control, palliative care, critical/intensive care and is still constantly evolving.

Single precise jab of a needle, patients can now remain completely awake with just the operating site rendered numb for the surgeon to continue with the operation. Also, thousands of women deliver happy, healthy babies every day using labor analgesia. Even in Caesarean sections, spinal anesthesia ensures the mother is not just pain-free but also able to be a part of the birthing process

Types of anesthesia

The science and art of anesthesia has evolved and advanced at a rapid pace to the present day scenario, sophisticated and free of complications. Broadly anesthesia can be of 3 types

Local Anesthesia – Medicine is injected to anesthetize a part of the body, it is done for procedures of shorter duration in a very specific part of the body.

Regional Anesthesia – is the use of anesthetic agent to block sensations of pain from a large area of the body, such as an arm or leg or the abdomen. Regional anesthesia allows a procedure to be done on a region of the body without being unconscious.

General Anesthesia – in this patient is rendered unconscious with or without muscle relaxation using anesthetic agent either inhalational with anesthesia gases or intravenous agents.