Monitored anesthesia care (MAC) is defined as the presence of an anesthesia provider (separate from the operating surgeon) to monitor vital signs and/or administer intravenous medications to patients receiving local anesthesia for surgical procedures. This is also known as intravenous (IV) sedation. Many outpatient procedures could be performed with MAC instead of general anesthesia. The preoperative workup for MAC is as rigorous as general anesthesia because a very small fraction of MAC cases may need to be converted to general anesthesia cases. Patients suitable for MAC must be cooperative and understand that although they will not experience any discomfort during their procedure, they may have some awareness of the event. Dr. Brenner will utilize MAC on some cases in conjunction with infiltration of local anesthetics for pain control during outpatient surgery. These are usually shorter, localized procedures ( i.e. facial cases such as Moh’s closures).  MAC is associated with fewer post-anesthesia side effects and more rapid recovery and discharge. The biggest disadvantage of MAC is lack of airway control , so MAC requires the anesthetist to carefully titrate medications to maintain spontaneous respirations while keeping patient very comfortable during their procedure.

Related Posts

1. Why discount plastic surgery is dangerous
2. Important facts about the safety and risks of plastic surgery
3. Local anesthetics & the plastic surgeon
4. Do Plastic Surgeons Have Cosmetic Surgery?
5. Questions to ask my plastic surgeon