Anaesthesiologists are highly skilled medical doctors dedicated to improving patient safety and the broad practice of anaesthesiology in all practice settings. Try to imagine today’s health care without surgery. It’s almost impossible. Now try to imagine surgery without anaesthesia. Equally impossible. Without anaesthesia, many of modern medicine’s greatest benefits simply would not exist. Lengthy and complex operations like bariatic surgeries, organ transplants, neurosurgery, heart operations etc than ever before have been made possible only by recent advances in anaesthesiology.
Dr Sunita Lawange, ex- associate professor in Anaesthesiology and Director of Ashwini Pain Relief Clinic says “ If Surgeon plays the role of Arjuna during surgery Anaesthetist is your Sarathi , he is Krisna who takes you on a very smooth journey throughout your surgical period. Surgery can be minor or major but anaesthesia for any surgery is always and always major.
Gold Rate
05 April 2025
Anaesthesiology is the practice of medicine dedicated to the relief of pain and total care of the surgical patient before, during and after surgery. Before any surgery, the patient meets an important specialist who is a vital member of the surgical team.
Most people think of their anesthesiologist only as the “doctor behind the mask” who helps them sleep through surgery without pain and who wakes them up when surgery is over. Let’s lift the doctor’s mask and take a look at the responsibilities and role of anesthesiologist apart from giving anaesthesia to the patient undergoing surgery.
The role of an anaesthesiologist in Modern Medicine
Anaesthesiologist’s role extends beyond the operating and recovery room. They work in critical and intensive care units to help restore critically ill patients to stable condition.
In childbirth, anaesthesiologists manage the care of two persons: they provide pain relief for the mother while managing the life functions of both the mother and the baby. Anaesthesiologists are actively involved in pain management and have expertise in performing highly skilled interventions in various acute and chronic pain conditions. They have a dedicated role in emergency medicine, disaster management, trauma care, cath lab and palliative care.
Prior to surgery, anaesthesiologists evaluate the patient’s medical condition and formulate a plan for each individual patient taking into consideration patient’s physical status. With their expertise they maintain a very delicate balance of medications during the surgery. As perioperative physicians, anaesthesiologists specializes in administering anaesthesia to relieve pain and stress of surgery and for managing vital life functions, including breathing, heart rhythm, blood pressure, brain and kidney functions during surgery.
At the conclusion of surgery, the effects of the anaesthetic medications is reversed and the patient comes back to consciousness once again.
Frequently, people requiring surgery suffer from various medical conditions, such as diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure, arthritis or heart problems. Because of the preoperative evaluation, they are well-prepared to manage such high risk patients during the surgery and immediately afterward. Many people are apprehensive about surgery or anaesthesia. If you are well-informed and know what to expect, you will be better prepared and more relaxed.
Talk with your anaesthesiologist. Ask questions. Discuss any concerns you might have about your planned care. These doctors command a vast amount of medical knowledge about the human body, about drugs and how they act upon the body, and about the sophisticated technology used to track every major organ system of the body
The future of medicine and surgery in particular will continue to benefit from new advances in anaesthesiology.
All of this progress will allow anaesthesiologists to perform their most crucial and basic task- ‘safely caring for the health, comfort and quality of life of all their patients.Always ensure to be in safe hands of a qualified anaesthesiologist .
