Health Topic

Anesthesia

Local, regional, general - all are types of anesthesia. Learn about how anesthesia reduces or blocks pain before a surgery.

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Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Anesthesia

Anesthesia is the use of medicines, called anesthetics, to prevent pain during surgery and other medical procedures. Medicine may be given by injection, inhalation, topical lotion, spray, eye drops, or a skin patch.

Anesthesia can cause a loss of feeling, awareness, or both. Sedation may be used with anesthesia. Unlike full anesthesia, sedation doesn't make you completely unconscious, and recovery is faster. It helps reduce pain, keep you calm, and make you less aware during procedures such as minor surgeries, endoscopies, imaging, or dental work.

Levels of sedation include:

  • Minimal sedation. You are awake but more relaxed.
  • Moderate sedation (conscious sedation). You may feel sleepy and not remember much, but you can still respond when spoken to or touched.
  • Deep sedation. You are very drowsy and may respond only to repeated or stronger stimulation.

Anesthesia may be used for:

  • Minor procedures, such as filling a tooth.
  • Childbirth or procedures such as colonoscopies.
  • Minor and major surgeries.

In some cases, a dentist, nurse, or doctor may give you an anesthetic. In other cases, you may need an anesthesiologist. This is a doctor who specializes in giving anesthesia.

There are several different types of anesthesia:

  • Local anesthesia numbs a small area like a tooth or a cut that needs stitches. You are awake during local anesthesia.
  • Regional anesthesia numbs a larger area, like an arm, a leg, or everything below the waist. You may be awake during the procedure, or you may be given sedation. It may be used during childbirth, a Cesarean delivery (C-section), or minor surgeries.
  • General anesthesia affects your whole body. It feels like a deep sleep, but you do not feel anything. It is used during major surgeries, such as heart surgery, brain surgery, back surgery, and organ transplants.
  • Monitored sedation makes you relaxed or sleepy. You may be able to talk, depending on the level of sedation, and you probably won't remember the procedure. It may be used for a colonoscopy or dental work.

Your overall health, medical history, the procedure you're having, and other factors will help determine the type of anesthesia you receive.

Anesthesia is generally safe. But there can be risks, especially with general anesthesia, including:

  • Heart rhythm problem (arrhythmia).
  • Breathing problems.
  • An allergic reaction to the anesthesia.
  • Temporary confusion (delirium), which can last several days in some people over the age of 60, or briefly in children after waking up from anesthesia.
  • Awareness when someone is under general anesthesia. This usually means that the person hears sounds. But sometimes they can feel pain. This is rare.

Talk to your health care provider about the benefits and risks of anesthesia.

It sits within Surgery and Rehabilitation.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Anesthesia

9,797 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

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Related Issues

Clinical Trials

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Anesthesia. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Anesthesia, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.