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Anesthesia requires massive doses of drugs we normally consider unconscionably dangerous in public discourse: Fentanyl, propofol, Xanax, ketamine. The anesthesi

by ipnon 4y ago

Anesthesia requires massive doses of drugs we normally consider unconscionably dangerous in public discourse: Fentanyl, propofol, Xanax, ketamine. The anesthesiologist's job is to use a slurry of these drugs to bring you to the brink of death, and then hold you over the abyss by your ankles. All of this is done to perform gross physiological trauma on your body, which your CNS responds to readily as we know from the phenomenon of people waking up during surgery. We seem to think surgery under general anesthesia is not a life changing event because we don't remember it.

copperx 4y ago
I'm sorry, but even though anesthesia seems to impair cognition, it's nothing like you describe. One can certainly die from anesthesia, but it is incredibly rare. Anesthesia is very safe when dosed correctly.
- BizarroLand 4y ago
  I also want to say that Anesthesiologists don't always "bring you to the brink of death, and then hold you over the abyss by your ankles". That would be silly. Maybe for open heart surgery or brain surgery or some other extremely dangerous surgery where if you were to wake up the shock could kill you, but that would be overkill for a broken arm that needs pins to heal or for an appendectomy done with endoscopic tools. Knocking you out and keeping you under would be more than enough for that.
  - wnissen 4y ago
    The point of anesthesia is to shut down all the conscious parts of your brain and many of the unconscious ones. It's a fundamentally difficult task, and by a lot of standards you are in real trouble during it.
PragmaticPulp 4y ago
> Anesthesia requires massive doses of drugs we normally consider unconscionably dangerous in public discourse: Fentanyl, propofol, Xanax, ketamine. Recreational, unsupervised self-administration of those drugs in recreational contexts is nothing like carefully measured and monitored administration in a hospital context. An Anesthesiologist carefully administering calculated doses of Fentanyl to a fasted patient who is being directly monitored and surrounded by professionals capable of emergency resuscitation has almost nothing in common with an opioid addict taking a random dose of what they've been told is Fentanyl. Don't get unnecessary surgeries, obviously, but don't confuse surgical intervention with drug abuse.
slkdk32 4y ago
- vorpalhex 4y ago
  Fentanyl is used for several medical procedures, including fluid draws from the spine. Please remember that everyone here is a real person, who is probably about as intelligent as you. [^1]: http://www.allaboutepidural.com/main-content/epidural-opioids http://www.allaboutepidural.com/main-content/epidural-opioid...
- morsch 4y ago
  "I am an anesthesiologist. To an anesthesiologist, fentanyl is as familiar as a Philips screwdriver is to a carpenter; it is an indispensable tool in my toolbox. It is the most commonly used painkiller during surgery. If you’ve had surgery, it is more likely than not that you have had fentanyl. Fentanyl is used to blunt airway reflexes and to place the breathing tube into the trachea with minimal coughing. It is the potent analgesic that prevents pain from the surgeon’s scalpel while your body sleeps under anesthesia." https://theconversation.com/fentanyl-widely-used-deadly-when-abused-60511 https://theconversation.com/fentanyl-widely-used-deadly-when... (2016)
- ipnon 4y ago
  Fentanyl is commonly used to induce general anesthesia. Diacetylmorphine was used before the introduction of fentanyl. Diacetylmorphine is also known as heroin. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_anaesthesia#Induction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_anaesthesia#Inductio...
thrashh 4y ago
I mean if you take a massive dose of water, you will die too. Nothing is actually safe by that logic. Dosage is the difference.
plsbenice34 4y ago
Psychiatry and the war on drugs is where the politicized and bad science is. 'Illegal recreational drugs' are generally very well-tolerated.

by ipnon 4y ago

copperx 4y ago

I'm sorry, but even though anesthesia seems to impair cognition, it's nothing like you describe. One can certainly die from anesthesia, but it is incredibly rare. Anesthesia is very safe when dosed correctly.

BizarroLand 4y ago
I also want to say that Anesthesiologists don't always "bring you to the brink of death, and then hold you over the abyss by your ankles". That would be silly. Maybe for open heart surgery or brain surgery or some other extremely dangerous surgery where if you were to wake up the shock could kill you, but that would be overkill for a broken arm that needs pins to heal or for an appendectomy done with endoscopic tools. Knocking you out and keeping you under would be more than enough for that.
- wnissen 4y ago
  The point of anesthesia is to shut down all the conscious parts of your brain and many of the unconscious ones. It's a fundamentally difficult task, and by a lot of standards you are in real trouble during it.

PragmaticPulp 4y ago

> Anesthesia requires massive doses of drugs we normally consider unconscionably dangerous in public discourse: Fentanyl, propofol, Xanax, ketamine. Recreational, unsupervised self-administration of those drugs in recreational contexts is nothing like carefully measured and monitored administration in a hospital context. An Anesthesiologist carefully administering calculated doses of Fentanyl to a fasted patient who is being directly monitored and surrounded by professionals capable of emergency resuscitation has almost nothing in common with an opioid addict taking a random dose of what they've been told is Fentanyl. Don't get unnecessary surgeries, obviously, but don't confuse surgical intervention with drug abuse.

slkdk32 4y ago

vorpalhex 4y ago
Fentanyl is used for several medical procedures, including fluid draws from the spine. Please remember that everyone here is a real person, who is probably about as intelligent as you. [^1]: http://www.allaboutepidural.com/main-content/epidural-opioids http://www.allaboutepidural.com/main-content/epidural-opioid...
morsch 4y ago
"I am an anesthesiologist. To an anesthesiologist, fentanyl is as familiar as a Philips screwdriver is to a carpenter; it is an indispensable tool in my toolbox. It is the most commonly used painkiller during surgery. If you’ve had surgery, it is more likely than not that you have had fentanyl. Fentanyl is used to blunt airway reflexes and to place the breathing tube into the trachea with minimal coughing. It is the potent analgesic that prevents pain from the surgeon’s scalpel while your body sleeps under anesthesia." https://theconversation.com/fentanyl-widely-used-deadly-when-abused-60511 https://theconversation.com/fentanyl-widely-used-deadly-when... (2016)
ipnon 4y ago
Fentanyl is commonly used to induce general anesthesia. Diacetylmorphine was used before the introduction of fentanyl. Diacetylmorphine is also known as heroin. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_anaesthesia#Induction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_anaesthesia#Inductio...

thrashh 4y ago

I mean if you take a massive dose of water, you will die too. Nothing is actually safe by that logic. Dosage is the difference.

plsbenice34 4y ago

Psychiatry and the war on drugs is where the politicized and bad science is. 'Illegal recreational drugs' are generally very well-tolerated.