the Hospital of Today - Olympic Medical Center

On the Forefront of
Advanced Anesthesia
The anesthesiologist is often the most overlooked member of a surgical team. His or her role,
however, is among the most important – to keep the patient safely sedated and comfortable.
a person has surgery,
a general or specialty
“When
surgeon performs the
operation, but an anesthesiologist is also
present to make sure the patient doesn’t
feel pain,” says
Pamela Bundy, MD,
anesthesiologist at
Olympic Medical
Center. “In addition
to ensuring the
patient remains
asleep during
procedures in which
he or she is sedated,
the anesthesiologist
Pamela Bundy, MD
acts as an internist in
the operating room by monitoring the
patient’s vital signs and making sure he or
she does well throughout the procedure.”
In the past decade, several advances
have occurred in anesthesiology that
improved surgical outcomes and reduced
complications associated with anesthesia.
Olympic Medical is on the forefront of
many of these improvements, including:
➺ Pharmaceutical advances (allow
patients to wake up faster and feel
more alert after surgery) such as
the use of propofol, a medication
used in anesthesia to render patients
unconscious. Olympic Medical
anesthesiologists also use desflurane
and sevoflurane, two inhalable
general anesthetics.
➺ Ultrasound-guided nerve
blocks in procedures such as joint
replacements and arthroscopic
anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
repairs, to give patients a jump on
beginning physical therapy and
rehabilitation by decreasing postoperative
pain for 24 to 48 hours after
a procedure.
➺ Bispectral index (BIS)
monitoring to measure the depth
of a patient’s anesthesia and prevent
him or her from waking up during a
procedure, a common surgical fear for
many patients.
➺ Participation in a national
Surgical Safety Checklist, in which
the surgical team confirms the patient’s
identity, allergies, surgical site or limb
and other important information
before beginning a procedure.
Anesthesia and Body
Temperature
Anesthesia is a vital component of
surgery, but it interferes with the body’s
temperature regulation. Surgical teams at
Olympic Medical Center use “warming
air blankets” to prevent patients from
cooling off too much during surgery,
which can lead to infection and cardiac
complications. Olympic Medical does
well here – more than 99 percent of
Olympic Medical patients reach the
recovery room with a body temperature
in the normal range.
“The surgical team introduces a
patient to all the personnel in the
operating room before administering
anesthesia to put him or her at ease,”
Dr. Bundy says. “At Olympic Medical,
patients can count on the most up-todate
anesthetic and surgical care right
here in their hometown.”
For information about surgical services at Olympic
Medical, visit www.olympicmedical.org
and select “Services.”
8 www.olympicmedical.org