Anesthesiology
Medical specialty concerned with anesthesia and perioperative care / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Anesthesiology or anaesthesiology is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery.[1] It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, and pain medicine.[2] A physician specialized in anesthesiology is called an anesthesiologist, anaesthesiologist, or anaesthetist, depending on the country.[3][4][5][6] In some countries, the terms are synonymous, while in other countries, they refer to different positions and anesthetist is only used for non-physicians, such as nurse anesthetists.
Focus | Anesthesia, perioperative medicine |
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Subdivisions | Intensive care medicine Pain medicine Critical emergency medicine |
Specialist | Anesthesiologist Anaesthesiologist Anaesthetist |
Occupation | |
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Occupation type | Specialty |
Activity sectors | Medicine |
Description | |
Education required |
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Fields of employment | Hospitals, Clinics |
The core element of the specialty is the prevention and mitigation of pain and distress using various anesthetic agents, as well as the monitoring and maintenance of a patient's vital functions throughout the perioperative period.[7] Since the 19th century, anesthesiology has developed from an experimental area with non-specialist practitioners using novel, untested drugs and techniques into what is now a highly refined, safe and effective field of medicine. In some countries anesthesiologists comprise the largest single cohort of doctors in hospitals,[8][9] 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, management of hospice and palliative care units, and prehabilitation programs to optimize patients for surgery.[7][8]