The anesthesia

Written by Escobar MD     

The rhinoplasty is the most difficult plastic surgery of all, not only due to its technical difficulty, but also because the results are influenced by various factors. One of them, and which is a key aspect for me, is the anesthesia.

I prefer general anesthesia to operate, mainly due to the security that it gives to the patient (compared to local anesthesia). With general anesthesia we can control the patient's airway during the entire procedure, in such a way that there will not be any problems with the oxygen supply if anything unexpected were to happen. It also offers the surgeon a more comfortable way of working, in such a way that he will be able to operate in a calm environment and obtain more precise results.

In all the various types of general anesthesia, the one that I recommend is the intravenous general anesthesia. This anesthesia does not use gases to make the patient sleep, only medication that is given through the veins.

This type of anesthesia is safer than the anesthesia with gases, because just stopping the flow of the medication will cause the patient to begin to awake, as opposed to the anesthesia with gases, with which we must wait longer. This makes waking up very comfortable, it feels as if you are waking up from a nap.

Additionally, we can control blood pressure better during the entire surgery, maintaining it at a level that avoids excessive bleeding.

All of this will have an influence on a faster recovery, because if you do not bleed, you will not have hematomas or so much swelling, and in my experience I can tell you that, with this type of technique, you can begin your social and work activities within 10 days without any problem.

The only inconvenience that intravenous anesthesia has is that it is more expensive that the classical general anesthesia, and you need an anesthetist with enough experience to perform this technique adequately.