Anesthesiology is the medical specialty concerned primarily with the total preoperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. Anesthesiologists are indeed preoperative physicians. It encompasses anesthesia, post-operative pain management, intensive care medicine, and critical emergency medicine.  Acute and chronic pain management also form an integral part of the specialty. The specialty- course deals with study of anesthetic agents to meticulously support patient’s vital functions through the perioperative period. Anaesthesia is a specialty where newer pharmacological agents and innovations in the techniques happen time and again. Anaesthesia is fast developing into a safe and diligent branch of medicine where precise and explicit outcomes are anticipated. In some countries anesthesiologists comprise the largest single cohort of doctors in hospitals, and their role can extend far beyond the traditional role of anesthesia care in the operating room, including fields such as providing pre-hospital emergency medicine, running intensive care units, transporting critically ill patients between facilities, and prehabilitation programs to optimize patients for surgery.

 

The department of Anesthesiology, at BMCH has competent faculty capable of providing utmost patient care in all the specified areas and disseminate the same skills to the students. ‘Lifeline of the hospital’ is an apt word for our department, which caters to all emergency and intensive care requirements of the

 

Hospital. It is the horizontal and not the vertical hierarchy functioning, that makes the outcome exceptionally par excellence, both in terms of teaching-learning activities and patient care. The MCI has very recently permitted for the admission of three PG seats. This is in itself a stamp of approval of a large number and variety of cases managed, regular teaching programs and the involvement shown by the students in an altogether enriching learning environment. Postgraduates are being trained in pre-anaesthetic evaluation, all sub-specialities of anaesthesiology, intensive care, pain and palliative care. They have a structured program of practical training on rotational basis in all sub-specialities of anaesthesia to make them confident of handling variety of patients. They are also presenting seminars, journal clubs and clinical cases as per the RGUHS guidelines. They are evaluated periodically for their proficiency in theory as well as practical work. Postgraduates are also trained to conduct a scientific clinical research by the way of dissertations. They are allowed to conduct elective as well as emergency cases under the direct supervision of concerned faculty.

 

Doctors in the department of anaesthesiology induce anesthesia for patients of all age group including pre-term infants to Geriatric age. Department has facilities for anaesthetising patients coming for surgeries under various departments like General Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Orthopaedics, ENT, Ophthalmology, Neurosurgery, Plastic Surgery, Urology, Paediatric Surgery,

 

Cardiac Surgery and Oro-facio-maxillary Surgery. Anaesthesia services outside OT include Pre-anaesthetic evaluation clinic, Electroconvulsive therapy, and during Endoscopies., Anaesthesia for CT and MRI. Department has a variety of airway gadgets like Laryngoscopes, Laryngeal Mask Airways, Fibreoptic bronchoscope, bougie etc. for managing difficult airways. Other facilities include invasive blood pressure monitoring, Peripheral nerve stimulator for giving nerve blocks, non fiberoptic bronchoscopy, BIS monitoring, cardiac output monitoring.

A team of trained Anesthesiologists is involved in various forms of treatment such as Labour Analgesia and chronic pain management. They are involved in Intensive Care of patients admitted in various ICUs. Patients requiring anaesthesia services here are generally sicker, with multiple co-morbid diseases like diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, stroke, respiratory diseases, renal failure, deranged liver function etc who require advanced monitoring and expert handling to ensure safety, faster recovery and better outcome of the  patients.