ANESTHESIA: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE ELDERLY

Anesthesia today is known as “the controlled state of temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical purposes.” Anesthesia has been used in America since 1846, long after surgery, and the associated pain was introduced. This thesis is a literary review of journals, books, and papers. It begins by shedding light on critical historical periods, events, and people that relate to the discovery and development of anesthesiology in order to better understand and appreciate anesthesia. I then discuss how anesthesia impacts an average person and what happens during the perioperative period for a patient. Lastly, the changes that occur during aging and how anesthetics impact the elderly will be analyzed. The main points of the paper are to provide recommendations for the elderly and their family on anesthesia care and to allow the patients to be empowered or more in control of their own care and potentially the outcomes of their surgeries