Anesthesiologists evaluate, monitor, and supervise patient care before, during, and after surgery, delivering anesthesia, leading the Anesthesia Care Team, and ensuring optimal patient safety.
Anesthesiologists specialize in anesthesia care, pain management, and critical care medicine.
What types of anesthesia do anesthesiologists provide?
Anesthesiologists are usually in charge of providing the following types of anesthesia care:
- General anesthesia. This type of anesthesia is provided through an anesthesia mask or IV and makes you lose consciousness. It is used for major operations, such as a knee replacement or open-heart surgery.
- Monitored anesthesia or IV sedation. IV sedation causes you to feel relaxed and can result in various levels of consciousness. Depending on the procedure, the level of sedation may range from minimal (making you drowsy but able to talk) to deep (meaning you won’t remember the procedure). This type of anesthesia is often used for minimally invasive procedures such as colonoscopies. IV sedation is sometimes combined with local or regional anesthesia.
- Regional anesthesia. Pain medication to numb a large part of the body, such as from the waist down, is given through an injection or through a small tube called a catheter. You will be awake but unable to feel the area that is numbed. This type of anesthesia, including spinal blocks and epidurals, often is used during childbirth and for surgeries of the arm, leg, or abdomen.
- Local anesthetic. This is an injection that numbs a small area of the body where the procedure is being performed. You will be awake and alert but feel no pain. This is often used for procedures such as removing a mole, stitching a deep cut, or setting a broken bone.
