An anesthesiologist is a guarding angel that takes care of the patient before and after the surgery. However, their role is much more significant than just putting a person to sleep. It demands a lot of medical knowledge to know how to soothe the pain and prepare patients so that they’re stable during the surgery.
Providing patients with intense medical care in that field is possible due to medical equipment used by anesthesiologists. These tools allow doctors to sedate patients quickly and effectively, ensuring they won’t wake up during the surgical procedure.
Besides advanced technology, anaesthesiologists need to use other supplies to perform well, provide patients with adequate care, and be prepared for potential emergencies. Still, none of it would’ve been possible without advancements in medtech.
Anaesthesia Machines
The essential tool in anesthesiologist work is an anesthesia machine. Its primary purpose is, of course, delivering anesthesia gas to the patient. However, there are different types of anesthesia machines used during distinctive types of anesthesia.
In the current era, technological advancement has allowed specialists to distinguish three main types of machines:
- The air anesthesia machines
- DC anesthesia machines
- Closed anesthesia machines.
An anesthesiologist decides which one to choose depending on the surgery type and a patient’s state. The advanced technology is used to provide patients with oxygen properly. The machines consist of parts such as oxygen source and flowmeter, vaporizer, scavenging system, heads-up systems, and other parts attached to the device.
Monitoring Systems
Aside from delivering gas and oxygen to the patient, it’s crucial to monitor the patient’s stability throughout all the surgery and afterwards. Most of the anesthesia machines have monitoring systems that enable monitoring patients’ blood pressure, heart rhythm, temperature, level of consciousness, amount of oxygen in the blood, and the amount of carbon dioxide breathed out. The monitoring must be of great accuracy as an inadequate amount of anesthesia gas or oxygen implemented to the patient’s body might lead to severe consequences.
However, there is additional medical equipment that is helpful in the monitoring of each breath.
- A pulse oximeter is a small device attached to a patient’s finger to measure the level of oxygen in the blood.
- A temperature probe is an additional monitor that helps provide information about the exact skin temperature. It’s a small patch that can also be attached to a tube running through a patient mouth to show the weather inside of the body.
- An electrocardiogram, aka EKG, can be used by anesthesiologists to control the heart rate.
Breathing Systems
Breathing systems are used in anesthesia to eliminate carbon dioxide and deliver oxygen to the patients. They are connected to the anesthesia machines and form a circuit that is helpful in ventilation. It creates an artificial atmosphere that makes it possible to breathe.
Being connected to the breathing circuit ensures that you receive oxygen. If you become disconnected, you can suffer severe damage.
Stethoscopes
Every doctor needs two things to call themselves one – a white coat, and yes, a stethoscope. Anaesthesiologists are not excluded from the group of specialists that need stethoscopes to perform well. However, to monitor the patients in anesthesia, the auscultation needs to be more than precise; they need high-quality equipment to provide them with greater accuracy.
The contemporary technological advancement allows specialists to invest in the stethoscopes that can record and save the auscultation sounds. It’s crucial to have a stethoscope on hand so that anaesthesiologists can easily detect sudden changes in vital signs and any indicators of emergencies.
Ambu Bags
Even though invented long ago, Ambu bags are still commonly used by anesthesiologists to save lives. It’s a self-inflating bag with two valves that help in urgent ventilation of the patients that exhibit breathing problems. It functions as a simplified anesthesia machine that is a backup in case of any failure.
Anesthesia Masks
Last but not least, an inevitable part of anaesthesiologist equipment is an anesthesia mask. It’s crucial in administering oxygen to the patient. They also allow the monitoring of the patient’s vital signs and ensure the personal flow of oxygen.
Masks are also essential as they provide patients with greater comfort. The modern anesthesia masks that can fit anatomically to patients face and seal effectively.
Conclusion
Anesthesiologists, like every other group of specialists, use advanced technology in their work. Interestingly, though, despite the technological development in the medical field, certain supplies are still commonly used among anaesthesiologists in general anesthesia, like masks or stethoscopes.
However, it takes much more to be a great anesthesiologist than knowing how to turn on and off the anaesthesia machine. Their work demands vast medical knowledge and abilities to operate complex machines. An anaesthesiologist needs to know how to monitor the patient and how much oxygen they need to go through the surgery without any unwanted surprises.
