Staying awake during surgery:
is regional anaesthesia right for you?
Dr David Jackson, Anaesthetist and Intensive Care Specialist visiting our new Block Bay, Tauranga Hospital.
Tauranga Hospital’s Anaesthesia department
recently celebrated the 170th anniversary
of ether anaesthesia with the launch of their
revamped ‘Block Bay’.
The theme of this year’s National Anaesthesia Day was regional
anaesthesia. This involves an injection around the nerve bundles
that control a particular area of the body. What’s commonly
referred to as a spinal block for caesarean sections is a regional
anaesthetic around the spinal cord.
Dr Heidi Omundsen, Anaesthetist at our patient information display,
Tauranga Hospital.
22
Consultant Anaesthetist Dr Heidi Omundsen says the revamped
Block Bay in the Post Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU) is where
regional anaesthesia may be performed prior to surgery.
On the day, staff set up an educational display in the Block Bay
focused on regional anaesthesia. Currently about a third of
patients having operations at many major hospitals are having a
regional anaesthetic.
Dr Frank Deutsch (Anaesthetist) teaches Dr Daire McGee (registrar), in our new
Block Bay. This is a simulated clinical situation with Dr Heidi Omundsen as the
“patient”.