Twilight Anaesthesia – A Change For Good?

The Coronavirus Crisis is likely to have a long lasting effect on many aspects of our lives – both good and bad.

• Remote working has taught us that we perhaps don’t need to use our car as much and there can be benefits in reducing commuting and carbon emissions.
• Regular hand washing and hygiene can help to reduce the spread of many infections, not just the coronavirus.
• Spending more time at home has been welcome especially for those of us with young families.

“It is what it is, as my son would say”

…and so we have to try to see if we can take some positives from it.

It has certainly forced me to look at the way I operate.

The Private Hospitals have been taken over by the NHS in and are not accepting any Plastic Surgery patients until the New Year.

This has meant that I have had to look for other facilities to treat patients (either that, or shutting up shop for 6 months – or more!).

There are still some smaller Private facilities that are not big enough to be of use to the NHS, but are able to offer surgery under General anaesthetic and Twilight anaesthesia (local anaesthetic with sedation).

Until now, I had only done a small proportion of my cases under Twilight anaesthesia and only in those patients who specifically requested it.

…but I have to admit that it has been an eye-opener.

We have done quite a few cases under Twilight anaesthesia now and it works amazingly well.

The sedation is such that you are not really aware and usually quite relaxed with little or no memory of the procedure.

In fact, for most of the surgery, it is similar to a General anaesthetic.

The main difference comes in the postoperative recovery.

…it is a lot smoother following Twilight anaesthesia and you are pretty much ready to get up and walk out within an hour of finishing the surgery.

There are still the bigger cases that need General anaesthetic like tummy tucks or bigger breast reductions but even these can be done with twilight anaesthesia and so I think it is probably a matter of time before it becomes the standard.

We are very lucky to have access to surgical facilities during these challenging times and I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be operating again.

If you are thinking of having surgery, whether it is under General anaesthetic or Twilight, then please get in touch because we are lucky to have access to some really great surgical facilities.

If you would like more information, please leave a comment and we will get back to you or call us on 0121-454 3680 or contact us here.

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