Anesthesia

Anesthesia has been an important focus area for MSD for many years. With our medicines, we provide anesthesiologists and surgeons with tools to carry out surgery in the best possible way and to promote the recovery of the patient.

What is anesthesia?

Anesthesia is defined as the loss of sensation and consciousness without the vital organs such as the brain and heart losing function. This is achieved by administering drugs that block pain impulses to the brain.

There are different types of anesthesia/anesthetics, such as epidural, sedation, local anesthesia, and general anesthesia. The type of anesthesia used depends on the procedure, age, and health of the patient, among other things.

The best-known type of anesthesia is general anesthesia, also called narcosis, which consists of three components: muscle relaxation, pain relief, and sedation.

Before surgery

Some surgeries require the muscles to be completely relaxed. Since this also relaxes the respiratory muscles, artificial respiration is required during and after surgery until a patient can breathe on their own again.

During surgery

Objectively measuring the degree to which a patient is slack allows for adjustment of surgic.