Anaesthesiology

Our anaesthetists are specialist doctors who look after you for surgery, childbirth and other procedures across our UAE hospitals. They care for people of every age, including newborns, and stay with you throughout, planning your anaesthetic beforehand and managing your pain and recovery afterwards.

What is anaesthesiology?

Anaesthesiology is the medical speciality that keeps you free from pain during operations, scans and childbirth. Anaesthetists are doctors who assess you before a procedure, give the anaesthetic and monitor you closely while it takes effect. They also manage your pain afterwards and take part in emergency care and resuscitation. Their work reaches into related fields such as intensive care and chronic pain clinics, so an anaesthetist may care for you well beyond the operating theatre.

Areas within anaesthesiology

Paediatric anaesthesiology: Anaesthesia and sedation for babies, children and teenagers having surgery, scans or other procedures, matched to a young patient's size and stage of growth.

When will you meet an anaesthetist?

You'll usually meet an anaesthetist when:

• You're preparing for planned surgery and need a pre-operative assessment
• You need pain relief during labour, such as an epidural
• You're having a procedure or scan that calls for sedation
• You're having a general, regional or local anaesthetic
• You need help with pain after an operation, or a longer-term pain problem

You don't book an anaesthetist yourself. Your surgeon, obstetrician or the team arranging your procedure will involve one as part of your care, usually at a pre-operative assessment before planned surgery. This is where the anaesthetist gets to know you and plans your anaesthetic.

What to expect

Before your procedure, the anaesthetist reviews your health, your medicines and any allergies, and examines your airway to plan your anaesthetic. You might have a blood test or a heart tracing beforehand to confirm you're ready, and you'll be told when to stop eating and drinking. The plan may be a general anaesthetic, a regional block such as a spinal or epidural, a local anaesthetic or sedation, depending on your operation.

During the procedure the anaesthetist stays with you, adjusting the anaesthetic and monitoring your breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen. Afterwards you recover in a monitored area as the effects wear off, with medicines ready for pain or nausea. After a day-case procedure you may leave the same day, with someone to accompany you. Your anaesthetist and the team plan your pain relief for a comfortable recovery.

Anaesthesiology at Mediclinic

We provide anaesthesia at our hospitals in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. Our anaesthetists are qualified doctors who work with the surgical and obstetric teams arranging your care, looking after you before, during and after your procedure. They give general, regional and local anaesthesia, and provide epidural pain relief in labour as well as anaesthesia for caesarean births.

Our anaesthetists support many kinds of surgery, from day-case operations to complex cardiac and neurosurgical procedures. They also give sedation for imaging and endoscopy, so tests and scans can be done in comfort. Before planned surgery, they meet you at a pre-operative assessment, where you can raise any concerns and hear how your anaesthetic will work. Afterwards, they look after your pain relief, using medicines or a nerve block to ease pain after the operation.