These days, it is no longer necessary to pack a bag planning to stay one or two nights in the hospital when preparing for many kinds of surgery. The Surgery Center Doral at DoralDOC is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) and provides a safe, efficient and state of the art facility for many surgical procedures.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of all operations performed today are done in outpatient facilities – and the number is rising.

An outpatient surgery, which is also called ambulatory or same-day surgery, provides a location for surgical procedures that do not require an overnight hospital stay.  Patients get the comfort and convenience of recovering at home.

During your surgery, you will be given some form of anesthesia or medication to prevent or reduce pain during the surgical procedure. In this article, we examine some types of anesthesia commonly used at The Surgery Center at Doral and the anesthesia group that will be providing you with care.

Miami Anesthesia Services (MAS) is the exclusive anesthesia group at The Surgery Center at Doral.  MAS is a group of board-certified physician anesthesiologists, who are the owners and anesthesia providers. MAS uses a balanced care team model to deliver safe and efficient anesthesia services with elite CRNAs supervised by MD anesthesiologists. The mission of MAS is to provide an exceptional level of perioperative leadership, efficiency, safety, surgeon satisfaction, and patient satisfaction.

The decision as to which type of anesthesia will be used is dependent upon your personal medical history, the type of surgery you are scheduled for, your surgeon’s preference and your anesthesiologist. With all types of anesthesia, you will be closely monitored by a board-certified anesthesiologist (MD) and/or a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA). The anesthesiologist will monitor your heart rate (EKG), breathing (respiratory rate), blood oxygen level (O2 saturation), blood pressure, and temperature. At The Surgery Center at Doral, an anesthesiologist will always be present at the surgical facility while you are under anesthesia.

While the decision as to the type of anesthesia to be administered is ultimately up to your anesthesiologist, the goal is to always provide a customized approach for each patient that allows us to provide the safest anesthetic and the best surgical outcome. This includes using a combination of anesthetic techniques and a “multi-modal” approach to pain control.  This approach allows us to achieve maximal comfort while reducing or eliminating the need for narcotics during and after surgery. The different kinds of anesthesia are outlined below:

Different Kinds of Anesthesia

1. General Anesthesia
2. Regional Anesthesia
3. Monitored Anesthesia Care with or without Conscious Sedation

General Anesthesia

During General Anesthesia, medications are given so patients are unconscious (“asleep”) and unable to feel any pain during the surgical procedure. To achieve this, medications are given through an IV and sometimes gases administered through a breathing mask or tube with oxygen.  Some of the side effects of general anesthesia include nausea, vomiting, sore throat, muscle aches, shivering, and confusion. General anesthesia is the most common type of anesthetic administered and is very safe for people of all ages and states of health.

Regional Anesthesia

Regional Anesthesia entails injecting a local anesthetic near nerves to numb a portion of the body.  At The Surgery Center at Doral, we focus on very specific and localized “nerve blocks” to numb the exact area of surgery.  By injecting a local anesthetic around a specific nerve or group of nerves, pain relief can be localized to the site of pain. Regional anesthesia provides pain control during and after a procedure (up to 3 days in some cases) and is associated with minimal side effects. These injections are most commonly done with the use of ultrasound so that the spread of medication around the nerves can be visualized by your anesthesiologist. This helps to achieve both a safe and effective outcome.

When Regional Anesthesia is used, patients are often sedated but not completely asleep prior to the nerve block/injection. Once the surgical area is numb, patients typically receive continued sedation so they are asleep for the surgery. However, at times patients can remain awake during surgery as long as they have no feeling at the surgical site.

Monitored Anesthesia Care with or without Sedation

Monitored Anesthesia Care (MAC) without sedation includes having an anesthesia provider in the operating room during your surgery to monitor your vital signs (heart rate, breathing, blood oxygen level, and blood pressure). By having an anesthesiologist present, we are able to immediately offer sedation or medications to keep you safe if you become uncomfortable or unstable in any way during your surgery.

MAC with sedation involves the injection of medications through an IV catheter to help you relax, as well as to block pain. A combination of sedative and narcotic medications are used to help you tolerate a procedure that otherwise would be uncomfortable. In addition, the surgeon may inject a local anesthetic at the site of the procedure for pain control. With this type of anesthesia, you are able to respond to questions, but will be drowsy throughout the procedure and may not remember being in the operating room. Please keep in mind that if for any reason you are unable to tolerate this type of anesthetic, there may be a need for a general anesthetic to be administered to complete the procedure safely.

At the Surgery Center at Doral, Miami Anesthesia Services is committed to your safety and comfort.  MAS is available at any time to answer your questions or concerns prior to or after any scheduled surgical procedures.

About Miami Anesthesia Services (MAS)

MAS is a group of board-certified physician anesthesiologists, who are the owners and anesthesia providers.  A balanced care team model delivers safe and efficient anesthesia services with our elite CRNAs directly supervised by MD anesthesiologists.  Our practice specializes in ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia, obstetrical anesthesia, cardiac anesthesia, and multimodal postoperative pain management.  The mission of MAS is to provide an exceptional level of perioperative leadership, efficiency, safety, surgeon satisfaction, and patient satisfaction.

About the DoralDOC

The DoralDOC is a center of excellence, assembled to supply an exceptionally high concentration of expertise and related resources in orthopedic medicine, pain management, and general surgery.  DOC physicians deliver associated care in a comprehensive, interdisciplinary fashion to afford the best patient outcomes possible.

Delivering enhanced healthcare experiences, the patient is emphasized above all other elements of the operation.

Services on-site at 3560 NW 82nd Ave in Doral, Florida, include diagnosis and treatment by an esteemed team of South Florida’s leading orthopedic surgeons, an ambulatory surgery center, an urgent care center, physical therapy, MRI, digital x-ray, fluoroscopy, PRP and stem cell treatments.

Call DoralDOC at (305) 537-7272 to learn more or make an appointment today!