General notes on anesthesia and medication

Abstract

In hospitals with a department of anesthesia headed by a professional anesthetist, the type of anesthesia is determined in consultation between the surgeon and the anesthetist. Under present conditions in smaller hospitals, and especially in private ones, the surgeon himself generally decides upon the choice of anesthesia and assumes the responsibility for it. In the decision whether one should employ local or general anesthesia, knowledge of both procedures is important, just as is the critical deliberation of advantages and disadvantages for the operation and for the patient. Without doubt sufficient reasons can be found to justify surgery under local anesthesia or nerve blocking, without the necessity of general anesthesia having to be discussed at all. Lack of personnel or of equipment should play no role today, even in private hospitals.