How Do Anesthetics Work?

It mainly includes general anesthesia, local anesthesia and compound anesthesia. It is also divided into inhalation anesthesia, intravenous anesthesia and basic anesthesia according to the way anesthetics enter the body. Basic anesthesia involves an intramuscular injection of certain general anesthetics (commonly known as sodium thiopental and ketamine) to put the patient to sleep and then anesthesia is administered. Local anesthesia is the use of a local anesthetic such as procaine, lidocaine, etc., to temporarily lose sensation in a part of the body. The commonly used methods include spinal anesthesia (block), nerve block, regional block, local infiltration anesthesia and surface anesthesia. Intraspinal anesthesia is the injection of local anesthetics into the spinal canal through spinal puncture. The subarachnoid space is called subarachnoid block or lumbar anesthesia, and the epidural space is called epidural block. Nerve block is the injection of local anesthetics into a nerve trunk (plexus) in the body to produce pain block in the innervated area. Common nerve blocks include cervical plexus block and brachial plexus block. Regional block is to inject local anesthetics around the surgical site to block the nerve endings in the surgical area and achieve the purpose of anesthesia. Local invasive anesthesia is a common anesthesia method used in clinical minor surgery, where local anesthetics are directly injected into the surgical site and evenly distributed to all layers of tissues throughout the surgical area to block the conduction of pain. Surface anesthesia refers to the use of permeable local anesthetic spray or coating on mucous membrane, conjunctiva and other surfaces to produce anesthetic effect. Compound anesthesia is the simultaneous or sequential application of two or more anesthetic drugs, auxiliary drugs (such as analgesics, antipsychotic drugs, etc.) or anesthesia methods, so that they complement each other to enhance the anesthetic effect, ensure the safety of patients, and meet the special requirements of some operations. Anesthesia should be selected according to the condition and surgical needs, indications and contraindications of anesthesia methods.