Re: Different forms of anaesthetic.
 

BEST WISHES SMELLY !!!

Hope the op today went OK, and that you were suitably aneasthetised whichever option you went for !

It's 6.40pm in Calgary now - I hope you are sitting up and feeling OK, either still at hospital or at home (if you've pee'd :lol: ) and that you and your knees will be doing some fancy moves soon. :thumbsup:

Re: Different forms of anaesthetic.
 

Thanks Ann. It all went really well and I went for the GA in the end. We drove home at around 6pm, in the blizzard. I slept like a log last night and I am now laid on the sofa up with the ice machine on my knee. I feel amazingly good this morning with little pain, but a little woozy. Must be the pain killers.

Banff hospital is lovely and I would recommend it to everyone.

Re: Different forms of anaesthetic.
 

Glad to hear it Miss. That must have made for an interesting drive home last night in that weather :blink:

Sure you are woozy from the painkillers, and not the large glass of wine you had with a leisurely lunch in front of the TV?! :lol:

Hope to catch up with you soon ...

Re: Different forms of anaesthetic.
 

Hi - Mrs. Blimey again,

To quickly reply to the into the CSF/epidural space issue, these two options are sufficiently similar to one another and dissimilar to a GA that the difference between them is negligible in the OP's situation. The experience and opinion of the anaesthetist placing and administering the modality should dictate which is chosen if a non-GA option is being considered. The two terms are frequently used interchangeably by the media and the public (and sometimes allied health professionals) and without looking at the medical record it would be difficult to know for certain which method someone actually had by history alone. I point this out so that the OP can evaluate the comments about these methods in that light.

With respect to sweeping generalizations about the risks of GA vs epidural etc, I would be very cautious in applying the findings of a specific study to a given patient and arriving at a conclusion for him/her. Studies have inclusion/exclusion criteria for example - the OP may not have been eligible for the study based on these and so applying the findings to him/her would be erroneous. As an example, while it may be true that "in general" patients who have GA's have longer stays, more complications etc, it may also be true that patients who require GA's are sicker, have more comorbidities etc that make them predisposed to these in the first instance.

It's definitely important to be informed and aware of the literature, but it must be tempered with critical appraisal and evaluation of these issues on a patient by patient basis. I doubt that any posters would be naive enough to take information from a website forum to direct their own health care, but sometimes patients feeling vulnerable and frightened take friendly information like this more seriously than perhaps intended. Having said that, forums like these can be very useful in sharing experiences and knowledge, and so I will sign off now and let everyone get back to it! Good luck with the procedure, I hope it works out well for you.

Re: Different forms of anaesthetic.
 

See post #42. :rofl:

Re: Different forms of anaesthetic.
 

I have an irrational fear of a GA. I think it must stem back to my youth (many years ago!) when I had a lot of teeth out and can always remember the smell of that horrid black rubber mask coming down over my face. On the last occasion I was actually sick under the anaesthetic and got a right ear bashing from the nurse when I came round.

So when it came to having an op for a hernia (which turned out not to be a hernia!!!) I opted for a local. I went it for day surgery and I was left to the end of the day, and the anaethetist wasnt very happy with me as I had done him out of a job.

Then I injured my knee at the gym and was told I would need an op to repair the tear and when I asked if it could be done under a local he said no, so I told him I would think about it. To this day I have still not had the op and my knee is much better!!!!

A friend of ours, now living in France, has recently had both his knees done and for both he had an epidural. He said it was the best decision he had made and enjoyed the experience chatting to everyone in the op. theatre!!!

:)