Anesthesiology

Your safety and wellbeing are our utmost concern. When you are in the care of our anesthesiology team at the University of Vermont Medical Center, we will remain with you the entire time you are under or coming out of sedation.

Throughout your procedure and post-procedure recovery, we closely monitor your vital signs, including breathing, pulse, temperature and blood pressure. If we see anything unusual, we intervene immediately. You are in the safest possible hands with our anesthesiology specialists.

Anesthesiology: Our Approach

Our goal is to provide the right sedation or pain relief to the right patient for the right amount of time, every time. We accomplish this through:

• Custom design: Every patient is unique. We consider your medical history, physical characteristics and current medications when we design your anesthesia plan so you receive the pain management that is right for you.
• Teamwork: Our anesthesia providers include attending physicians, anesthesia residents, certified nurse anesthetists and anesthesia assistants all working together to implement your customized anesthesia plan and ensure your safety.
• Evidence-based medicine: We keep up to date with all the latest medical literature to provide services that have proven effectiveness, clear patient benefits and strong safety records.

Anesthesiology Services We Provide

We provide a comprehensive range of anesthesia services, including:

• General anesthesia: When it is important for you to be unconscious during a procedure, we will sedate you for the duration of the procedure so you feel no pain and remain in a relaxed position. We will wake you gradually when it is safe to do so. We stay with you throughout the time you are sedated and monitor you closely.
• Regional anesthesia: Sometimes you need a specific region of your body to be numb during a procedure. For example, we can use spinal anesthesia, often called a spinal epidural, to numb patients from the waist down during childbirth or prostate surgery.
• Critical care anesthesia: If you have a life-threatening condition, our providers will treat you in our intensive care unit. Keeping you sedated and pain-free can give your body more time to recover from surgery or trauma.
• Chronic pain management: Some conditions or injuries can leave you with pain that will not go away. We may treat this pain with medications, or we may block a nerve that is sending the pain signal to your brain, or we may combine both treatments. In some cases, we may ablate (cut) the nerve so you no longer receive pain signals from it. Learn more about pain management.

Anesthesiology Specialties

Specialties of our anesthesiology department include:

• Acute pain services: We are available 24/7 to alleviate pain associated with surgery or other procedures. Certain medical conditions or illnesses can also cause intense pain. Our acute pain specialists provide relief from temporary or intermittent pain.
• Pediatric anesthesia: At the University of Vermont Children's Hospital, we work with pediatric specialists in the Comfort Zone to provide safe sedation and alleviate pain for young children and infants in a family-friendly environment. Read more about the comfort zone and pediatric anesthesia.
• Obstetrical anesthesia: We work closely with women during childbirth to meet their needs and alleviate their pain. Learn more about obstetrics and midwifery.
• Neuroanesthesia: When our neurosurgeons or neurologists perform procedures or tests, anesthesiology specialists provide pain relief or sedation that will not interfere with specific nerve pathways.
• Cardiothoracic anesthesia: If you undergo heart surgery, anesthesiologists with advanced training in cardiac medicine will provide anesthesia or sedation. We use echocardiography (ultrasound imaging) to watch and monitor your heart during these procedures.
• Vascular anesthesia: Our team includes anesthesiologists with advanced training in vascular medicine, the treatment and repair of blood vessels. These specialists provide sedation and pain relief when you undergo blood vessel procedures.
• Ultrasound-guided anesthesia: This imaging technology uses sound waves to produce clear images of the inside of your body. We use this to precisely place central lines (narrow tubes for delivering anesthesia or other medications) inside veins and for nerve blocks (to temporarily block signals in a nerve). You will have less bruising and feel less pain from the insertion of the tubes. The nerve blocks will be more effective because we can place them more accurately.

Anesthesiology: How We Compare

As a university hospital, our services are enhanced by research-based expertise, access to the latest equipment and technology, and the availability of the full scope of anesthetic drugs in use today. Our goal is to make sure all surgery patients have a safe and comfortable experience.