Anaesthetics

Anaesthesia is an important component of the surgery and the surgical experience.

Anaesthetics is a balance of three things that are needed for  a patient to safely undergo an operation.

1. Sedation - being unconscious during surgery with no awareness
2. Muscle relaxation - needed sometimes to facilitate traction and or surgical access.
3. Pain control - prevention of awareness and physiological response to pain both during and after surgery. This is a combination of drugs and local or regional blocks

During all this the anaesthetist has to maintain lung and airway function for oxygenation of the brain and all vital organs. Part of this is controlling the flow of oxygen carrying blood via the cardiovascular system. Thus, the anaesthetist must monitor and control blood volume and circulation.

So basically, the anaesthetist is keeping you alive while he surgeon operates.

My anaesthetist is Dr Piet Roux.

We have been a team for more than 18 years. We have been constantly refining the balance between anaesthesia and surgery with the purpose of optimising outcomes.

Dr Roux is constantly innovating and at the forefront of new developments in anaesthesia.

One of the most recent and exciting developments has been the use of Total Intravenous Anaesthesia (No gases), combined with brain wave monitoring to prevent excessive sedation.

There has been mounting evidence that excessive anaesthesia can have a negative and possibly permanent effect on brain function especially in the elderly.

The monitoring of brainwave activity and applying specific dosage AI models for medication has allowed Dr Roux to administer a much safer anaesthetic with patients waking up clear headed and without nausea and vomiting. We have also found that this process seems to benefit pain control with our patients.