About Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at BIDMC
Committed to compassionate, world-class clinical care in perioperative anesthesia, critical care and the management and relief of pain.
The Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine provides leading-edge anesthesia services in all operating rooms, intensive care units, labor and delivery, and non-operating room procedural areas (including gastrointestinal endoscopy, and electrophysiology) at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. Anesthesia care is also conveniently provided at BID-Milton, BID-Needham and BID-Plymouth for the convenience and comfort of our patients.
Our Locations
Anesthesia Care:
- BIDMC, Boston
- BID-Milton
- BID-Needham
- HVMA-Kenmore Endoscopy
- Longwood Plastic Surgery
Critical Care:
- BIDMC, Boston
- BID-Milton
- BID-Plymouth
Pain Services:
- BIDMC, Boston: Arnold Warfield Pain Center, Spine Center, Headache Center
- BID-Milton
- BID-Needham
- Ambulatory Center, Chestnut Hill Square
- Ambulatory Center, Chelsea
- Ambulatory Center, Lexington
What is anesthesia?
Below are the types of anesthesia and what you can expect as you recover.
General anesthesia
This means that you were completely asleep during your procedure. You probably had a tube laced in the back of your throat or into your lungs to help with breathing. Your team carefully monitored your blood pressure, heart rate, and other vital bodily functions during the procedure. Some side effects of general anesthesia include:
- Sore throat
- Nausea or vomiting
- Hoarseness
- Mild muscle aches
If you have any of these side effects, they should be mild, and should last only 24-48 hours. In rare cases, the breathing tube can cause injury to the teeth, gums, back of throat, or vocal cords. If you feel this may have happened, please contact the anesthesia department.
Monitored anesthesia care (MAC)
This means you received sedation for your procedure. MAC makes you sleepy and makes it so you probably don’t remember much from your procedure. Compared to general anesthesia, there is less impact on your heart, blood pressure and breathing, and recovery is usually quicker with fewer side effects.
Common side effects of MAC include ongoing sleepiness and a sense of fatigue. Some patients may have some nausea. Occasionally, the anesthesia team will place a soft device in the nose or mouth to help you breathe. You may have some mild discomfort in the throat or nose. Any side effects from MAC should be gone in 24-48 hours.
Regional anesthesia (peripheral nerve block)
During regional anesthesia, numbing medicine (similar to novocaine) is injected around the nerves close to the area of surgery. This will mean the nerves will not work for up to 24 hours. This numbs pain in the area, but it also means that you can’t move the area normally. This is because the nerves that control the muscles are also numb.
If you received regional anesthesia, you will receive information from your recovery room nurses about how to care for yourself as it wears off. Important things to remember include:
- Start taking pain medications BEFORE the numbness wears off.
- Be very careful with the numb area of your body. Because of the loss of feeling, you will not be able to tell if you are hurting yourself. Stay away from anything that could be hot.
- If your arm is numb, keep it in a sling. If your leg is numb, keep it in the brace, and do not walk without help until the numbness wears off.
Spinal/Epidural anesthesia
This means that numbing medication was injected near your spine. This makes the lower half of your body numb for the surgery. Rare side effects include:
- A small bruise at the injection site. It usually lasts 24-48 hours.
- A “spinal headache” occurs in about 1% of patients. This headache is in the front or back of the head (even the neck). It goes away or gets much better when you lie down. If you think you have a spinal headache, call your surgeon or contact the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine.
Rare serious complications are bleeding or infection near the spine, damage to the nerves, or even paralysis. These would cause weakness or numbness in the legs, an inability to control urine or bowels, or severe low back pain. Fortunately these are all very, very rare. If you have any of these symptoms, call 911.
