Comprised
entirely of Board Certified Physicians, the Department of
Anesthesiology at Island Eye Surgicenter is an important part of the
surgical team, which has been assembled for the sole purpose of
providing you with the highest standard of anesthesia care for your eye
surgery. Each member of the department has been trained in the specific
techniques available to assure complete comfort during your surgery, and
has extensive experience in the very specialized area of ophthalmic
anesthesia.
All
patients scheduled for surgery at our Surgicenter will have the
opportunity to meet with their anesthesiologist immediately prior to
their surgery. There will be a pre-anesthesia interview in order to
review your medical history, medications and allergies, and to provide
answers to any questions or concerns, which you might have. This is part
of the preparation for your having the safest, most comfortable and
reliable anesthetic experience possible. After this pre-operative
interview, a small intravenous is placed in your arm in order to
administer any medication, which you might require during your stay with
us.
There
are basically 2 anesthesia techniques used at Island Eye Surgicenter and
around the country to assure a successful, comfortable and safe
completion of your eye surgery. Both of these can be referred to as
"local anesthesia with sedation" as we do not put patients
under general anesthesia. However, the appropriate amount of sedation
used along with well-performed local anesthesia has proven to be an
excellent way to undergo eye surgery and one, which leads to an
extremely high level of patient satisfaction.
The
type of anesthetic you receive is, for the most part, a group decision
made by your surgeon, your anesthesiologist and you. The goal is to make
sure you are safe and comfortable, and that your surgeon has optimal
conditions under which to complete the scheduled procedure. This
decision is based on several factors, including your general medical
condition, your ability to cooperate and the actual proposed procedure.
The 2 techniques we offer are "topical anesthesia" and
"nerve block anesthesia". Most of our surgeons prefer using
topical anesthesia whenever they can because this type of anesthesia is
easier to administer and allows for a quicker recovery of your vision
and eye function. This involves the application of an anesthetic gel by
the nurses in the pre-op area, followed by continuous use of local
anesthesia by your surgeon throughout the procedure.
Nerve
block anesthesia is performed in the pre-op area by the
anesthesiologist, or in the operating room by your surgeon. You will
receive more sedation when receiving a nerve block, as it involves the
application of the local anesthetic around the eye via injection. We can
assure you, that almost universally; this is a pain-free experience
because of the excellent medications available to us. This type of
anesthetic should make your eye more thoroughly numb and immobile for
one to two hours. Therefore you can expect to go home with a protective
patch over the eye post-operatively. Most of the time, you can remove
the patch later that evening.
The
Anesthesia Department at Island Eye Surgicenter is committed to
delivering the highest standards of ophthalmic anesthesia care available
to each and every one of our valued patients. We are proud to be part of
this very dedicated and specialized surgical team, and would be happy to
answer any questions that you have.
