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High School Biology Department: Biology Week Lecture – “Anesthesiology”

June 9, 2019

What were surgeries like before the discovery of anesthesia? Are anesthesiologists only responsible for administering anesthesia? How does anesthesia work? The answers to these questions could be heard in the biology week lecture: “Anesthesiology”. On June 6th, Doctor Gu Xiyao, a doctor from Shanghai Jiao Tong University Renji Hospital, shared knowledge and stories about anesthesiology with students at SHSID.

Surgery without anesthesia causes extreme physical pain to patients. To relieve pain in the past, doctors made patients unconscious by knocking them out, gave them alcohol, and even used bloodletting. These methods are not only dangerous but have a very limited effect. As a result, operating rooms were filled with the screams of patients being operated on. The discovery and development of anesthetics greatly reduced patients’ pain. In addition to blocking one’s perception of pain, anesthetics can also relax muscles and prevent exaggerated autonomic reflexes, thus significantly improving the safety of surgeries. Regarding how anesthetics are applied, administration is divided into inhalation anesthesia and intravenous anesthesia. The duties of anesthesiologists are not limited to administering anesthesia. For example, when a patient is in danger during a surgery, anesthesiologists react to the problem and take necessary steps rather than the surgeon, as is commonly believed. In addition, anesthesiologists have other essential responsibilities, such as intensive care. Anesthesia is also divided into general anesthesia and local anesthesia. Patients under general anesthesia look like they are asleep. Anesthesia and sleeping are similar in some ways but different in others. For example, similar brain areas are activated during awakening from anesthesia and from sleep. However, sleep can be interrupted by external stimuli such as sound, while deep anesthesia cannot be awakened by such stimuli. Anesthetics take effect by suppressing communications among different brain regions. Can anesthetics harm the brain or affect IQ? There is no clear answer to this question. IQ is closely related to consciousness, the biological basis of which is not yet fully understood. At the end of the lecture, Dr. Gu briefly introduced current research topics in anesthesiology and the anesthesia department of Renji Hospital.

Dr. Gu’s lecture was professional and easily understood. Numerous interesting examples in the lecture made students laugh, for example, the surgery with the highest mortality rate (300%) in history. After the lecture, students asked many interesting questions, for example, “Can people dream under general anesthesia? If so, can they talk in their dream?” Some students were concerned about the safety of anesthesia, for example, “Will people get addicted to anesthesia?” Some students are interested in various anesthetics: “Is Propofol able to block pain?” One student even started to worry that she may tell her secrets when she is not fully awakened from anesthesia: “How can I stop myself from talking after anesthesia?” Dr. Gu answered every question with patience. Through this lecture, students realized the importance of anesthesia, learnt knowledge about anesthesia, and grew interested in related areas.

（Written by Chengbo Zhou Pictures by Chengbo Zhou）