Absence of all sensation.
Loss of feeling or sensation caused by an anesthetic agent to permit diagnostic and treatment procedures; also spelled anaesthesia.
Absence of sensation; may result from nerve damage, anesthetic drugs, a conversion disorder, or hypnosis.
Absence of sensation; may result from nerve damage, anesthetic drugs, or psychological processes such as in hystencal neurosis, conversion type, or hypnosis.
Partial or complete loss of sensation caused by injury, diseases, or the administration of an anesthetic agent.
Treatment to block the sensation of pain, as during a medical procedure; literally, absence of feeling. Anesthesia may be topical, local, regional, or general. Topical anesthesia is the most minimal, involving application of a sense-deadening substance to a surface such as the skin, membrane, or cornea of the eye. Local anesthesia applies to just a small area of the body, as in dental surgery or some minor surgical procedures, and is often administered by injection, though sometimes a surface anesthetic may be used.
In general anesthesia, which is administered before a major operation (e.g., removal of a lung), total unconsciousness results from injection or inhalation of anesthetic drugs. In local anesthesia loss of sensation is confined to a given small part or area of the body (e.g., the tissues surrounding a tooth to be extracted). In regional anesthesia loss of sensation is produced in a specific area of the body (e.g., in the pelvic area during childbirth by an epidural anesthetic). In topical anesthesia loss of sensation is confined to the surface skin or mucous membranes (e.g., benzocaine solution sprayed on the skin). Hypnosis, acupuncture, and nerve damage, as in leprosy, may also produce anesthesia.
Pharmacological agents used to block nerve sensations.
A method, including medication, to cause the temporary absence of all sensation. Anesthesia makes surgery possible by eliminating the pain that a procedure would otherwise cause. Various forms and routes of pain suppression are available, depending on the person’s medical history, preferences, age, and emotional makeup and on the type and duration of surgery performed.
Loss of feeling or sensation in a part or all of the body. Anesthesia of a part of the body may occur as a result of injury to or disease of a nerve; for example in leprosy. The term is usually applied, however, to the medical technique of reducing or abolishing an individual’s sensation of pain to enable surgery to be performed. This is effected by administering drugs or by the use of other methods, such as acupuncture or hypnosis.
The condition of having lost feeling or sensation. This condition may arise because of the administration of a drug, the use of another agent or method (cold, for example) which depresses sensation, or neurological (nervous system) impairment. Words such as “ether” and “spinal” are commonly used to modify “anesthesia”; they refer to the anesthetic used, the route of administration, the area involved in the anesthesia, and the like.
Partial or complete loss of sensation, with or without loss of consciousness, as a result of disease, injury, or administration of an anesthetic agent, usually by injection or inhalation.
Medications that dull pain, numb it completely, or cause someone to become unconscious.
A blend of medications administered through various techniques by skilled medical practitioners to induce sedation, amnesia, analgesia, and immobility sufficient for the successful execution of a surgical procedure, while ensuring minimal discomfort for the patient.
Complete or partial inability to perceive pain or sensation in a specific area. This condition can result from a medical ailment or be induced through the use of anesthetic substances applied, injected, or inhaled.