Over the years, many from the public have explained their impression of general anesthesia to me. The answers range from 'You give stuff like chloroform and wait for people to regain consciousness.' to 'You put a tube in the mouth and machines do everything.' to 'You give one drug and then leave the operation theater while the surgeon takes care of the patient till he wakes up.' The truth is, even today, many aren't really aware of what anesthesiologists do inside the operation theater. It is understandable.
You meet an anesthesiologist often just once before the surgery and he seems to focus on your diabetic history and how much you can open your mouth rather than the reason you are here, your fractured hand (I've explained why here). You never spend that much time before the operation with us and often, even less after, if all goes well. With that in mind, I figured I would have an…
