US Newswire
1/20/2005 11:46:00 AM

Implant Patient Worries Over Office Anesthesia Relieved by Educational Brochure From AANA

There are many reasons why more and more patients are choosing the office setting: access to care, lower costs, efficiency, confidentiality, and comfort with the surroundings. Today, plastic surgeons, podiatrists, ophthalmologists, dentists, and other specialists provide surgical and other services in office settings -- services that used to be available only in hospital and ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). Working closely with a qualified anesthesia professional, such as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) or physician anesthesiologist, these practitioners enable their patients to safely and comfortably undergo procedures as complex as liposuction, face lifts, breast augmentation, lithotripsy, arthroscopic knee surgery, wisdom teeth extractions, and bunionectomies.

"The same standard of anesthesia care for hospitals and ASCs also applies to office settings, regardless of whether the anesthesia professional is a CRNA or an anesthesiologist," said Tunajek. "In fact, the first and most comprehensive Standards for Office Based Anesthesia Practice were developed by the AANA and adopted in 1999."

Due to improvements in drugs, technology, anesthesia techniques, and provider education, anesthesia care is safer than it has ever been. In fact, the Institute of Medicine reported in 1999 that overall, anesthesia is nearly 50 times safer today than it was in the early 1980s.

Office Based Anesthesia: What Every Patient Should Know to Prepare for Surgery and Anesthesia in a Physician's Office is available by contacting the AANA Bookstore at shorton@aana.com or bookstore@aana.com; or at 847-655-1129. Single copies are available at no charge. The price for a package of 100 brochures is $15, plus shipping and handling.

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About the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists:

Founded in 1931 and located in Park Ridge, Ill., AANA is the professional organization for more than 30,000 Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs). As advanced practice nurses, CRNAs are the hands-on providers of 65 percent of the anesthetics delivered in the United States each year. CRNAs practice in every setting, including physician's offices, where anesthesia is available and are the sole anesthesia providers in more than two-thirds of all rural hospitals.