Anesthesia keeps patients safely unconscious during surgery—though researchers are still learning exactly how it works. The age of anesthesia began in 1846, when a man named Edward Abbott came to ...

If you’ve ever had surgery, you’ve probably wondered about how anesthesia works, or maybe even lied awake at night anxious about going under. If you’ve ever been there, I’m sure you remember: Right ...

Russell has a PhD in the history of medicine, violence, and colonialism. His research has explored topics including ethics, science governance, and medical involvement in violent contexts. Russell has ...

Imagine having ankle surgery without general anesthesia, watching the whole procedure in real time, then walking out of the procedure on that very ankle. That’s just what patient Bill Segraves of ...

Older adults who avoid surgery because they fear general anesthesia will cause thinking declines need not worry, researchers report. A study of more than 1,000 patients who had heart surgery at four ...

General anesthesia — the enabler of modern surgery and medical intervention — is one of the great triumphs of the scientific method. Ether, the compound from which almost all modern anesthetics are ...

Doctors may use general anesthesia during delivery if regional anesthesia is not a suitable option. Doctors typically reserve general anesthesia for surgical deliveries, such as cesarean deliveries.