What can patients expect?
Before the procedure, your anesthesiologist will discuss the type of anesthesia or pain relief with you. You will be able to ask questions about the techniques and consider alternative approaches. Some types of pain relief may be unavailable if you have certain medical conditions or are taking certain medications, but in these cases, an alternative will be provided.
Regional anesthesia (where a part of the body is numbed) or general anesthesia (being put to sleep for the procedure) or a combination of these can be used for patients undergoing surgical procedures. Sedative drugs may be administered by the anesthesiologist during some procedures where the patient is awake, particularly in the Reproductive Medicine Unit, to make the procedure more comfortable.
General and Obstetric Anesthesiology
Sidra Medicine's General and Obstetric Anesthesiology Division provides world-class consultant-led care using the most recent evidence-based techniques. We are pleased to announce that our obstetric anesthesia service has been designated as a Center of Excellence by the Society for Obstetric Anesthesiology and Perinatology in the United States, effective in 2020. The Birthing Centre offers a full range of labor pain relief options, including the most advanced epidural and combined spinal epidural techniques. There is also intravenous patient-controlled analgesia for labor.
The majority of patients scheduled for surgery will be seen in the outpatient clinic by an anesthesiologist. Anesthesia will be planned for the procedure or labor and delivery, usually in collaboration with other specialists involved in your care. Following the procedure, some patients may require higher levels of monitoring on the High Dependency unit.
Pediatric Anesthesiology
Our Pediatric Anesthesiologists are specialized in providing high quality and safe clinical care for children who need operations, radiological and other procedures. The attending consultant doctors have gone through rigorous training programs in many of the leading hospitals in the world.
Sidra Medicine's pediatric anesthesiology department provides anesthesia and pain relief services to children and adolescents aged birth to 18 years. Within the hospital, we cover all pediatric surgical specialties, including cardiac surgery, neurosurgery, renal transplant, and all other specialties. Furthermore, we offer 24-hour on-call emergency anesthesia coverage for operating rooms, emergency departments, wards, and radiology suites. Approximately 9000 anesthetic procedures are carried out per year.
We play a leading role in education and training medical students and residents and additionally we are also staffed with highly skilled hospitalist doctors.
If your child requires a general anesthetic, an anesthesiologist will discuss with you before the procedure about your child’s general anesthetic. Anesthesiologists need to find out about your child’s general health, previous experiences of anesthesia, any medicines your child might take and any allergies he or she may have. They will also discuss the timings of when your child can have anything to eat and drink before the surgery or procedure. Detailed explanation about what happens during the surgery and various ways to give pain relief to your child will be given by anesthesiologists.
Children’s journey for a procedure would normally involve:
- being seen in PAT clinic to assess their fitness for the procedure
- admission in Day Surgery Unit (DSU)
- anesthesia for surgery or a procedure
- followed by admission to the post anesthetic care unit ( PACU) ,
- discharge, either go home if it is a same day admission ( day case) procedure or being admitted to a ward or ICU.
This pathway is determined by their medical condition and the procedure they have. In some special situations they might need to be kept asleep in ICU. Detailed explanation of all this specifically for your child will be given by the anesthesiologists. DSU and PACU are staffed by well qualified and trained nurses and during this appointment it is a good time to talk about any particular concerns you or your child might may have about anesthesia.
We are also able to involve Child Life Services to offer developmental and psychosocial support for children at Sidra Medicine. Some children can be very anxious about the anesthesia and it is good time to talk about how it can be reduced by certain sleepy medicines before the procedure.
Pediatric anesthesiologists are specialists in giving best treatment for pain like epidurals, caudals, local anesthetic blocks and other stronger pain relief mechanisms like PCA and NCA for post-operative period. Daily pain rounds are performed by a pain team comprising a highly qualified and trained pain nurse and an anesthesiologist.
We have started a half day pain clinic once every fortnight for children who need long term pain relief support This is provided by highly trained doctors with other teams like psychology, physiotherapy and social support for pain management.
