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EffervescentEngineer3 karma

Okay, a few questions/stories here:

  1. When I was about 10, I had to have a mole removed from the inside corner of my eye before it could grow and block my vision. As you can imagine, it was a very simple procedure, but my parents and the eye doctor decided to put me under general anesthesia anyway so I wouldn't get scared and maybe blink or flinch. Is this normal? Do you operate differently with child patients?
  2. A few years ago, I had to have a GI "upper scope" done. I think the duty nurse was a newbie, and she couldn't "stick" the IV needle, so they had the MD anesthesiologist do it himself. Is this a common occurrence in surgical centers? Do you get extra practice with finding veins in CRNA school?
  3. During the same procedure, they used propofol, and I could walk within a few minutes of waking up. My mom was jealous as she had gotten much longer-acting drugs for her procedures. Do you think more providers are changing over to propofol and other drugs with shorter half-lives? Should they?
  4. I have heard that over in the UK they frequently give "laughing gas" (nitrous oxide) for childbirth. I have had it used for a cavity filling and it was great. I could still feel pain (even with the numbing agent), but I cared about it much less. Do you think it should be more frequently used for non-dental procedures like childbirth or minor surgery?