The perils of communication in ‘awake’ surgeries

The perils of communication in ‘awake’ surgeries

Shared by:

The growing trend of using only local anaesthetics during surgeries has given rise to new challenges for surgeons.  The fact that patients are ‘awake’ means doctors must watch their words to ensure that the patient’s anxiety level is under control.
23 Aug 2016 - General
Alan Rosmadi There are basically three techniques on how to do it. 1)The patient remains entirely awake throughout the procedure. Patients receive a local block (in neurosurgery it's usually a scalp block). These are ideal for short procedures not utilizing a three-point fixation Mayfield head holder. 2) The patient may be initially sedated then awakened during the procedure. Anesthesia technique may be a loc...
 (Total 171 words)
I heard about this trend coming up slowly and increasing in numbers everyday. I also discuss about this matter with a few of my healthcare colleagues and we all have the same question about how it is done and how do any of them communicate without startling the patient. It is obvious that they would need to do hand signs to communicate but what about when something wrong happened? How are they healthcare providers going to react and communicate in an emergency to save the limb while the patient ...
 (Total 147 words)
Working in a pediatric surgical ward, I can't imagine how it would be like to do awake surgeries on kids. Just the mere sight of us surgeons with masks scare kids, so imagine having 2-3 of us with knives and scissors when the child is still awake! :D I have however seen awake surgeries on adults. Gynecological surgeries and general surgeries of the lower part of the body are done under regional anesthesia with significantly less morbidity. General anesthesia itself is having many complicatio...
 (Total 126 words)
Awake surgeries are really a huge advancement for modern neurosurgery. It has a lot of advantages in terms of patient recovery, ensured safe surgery because of less complications due to functional and real-time neuronavigation. However, this type of surgery has indications and it is not for everyone. I remember that we had a patient with a metastatic tumor bordering the language area. This is the type of tumor surgery that will benefit from awake surgery. The patient consented, however a few min...
 (Total 144 words)