You may be surprised to learn that patients receive painkillers in addition to a general anesthetic during an operation – even though they’re unconscious.

The body still responds to painful stimuli by increasing blood pressure or heart rate – which can be dangerous, especially for frail patients or those with heart issues. 

But there’s a challenge for the anesthesiologists who are managing pain control, monitoring vital body functions, and administering anesthesia during the operation.

They have only a rough idea of what the patient is enduring, because they’re unconscious and aren’t crying out in pain.

So they don’t know what level of painkiller to dispense, or what level of post-operative pain the patient may go on to suffer. 

It records changes in blood volume and circulation, the way the body sweats in response to the procedure it is experiencing, peripheral temperatures, like the temperature of a patient’s fingers, and more.

It uses AI to present an easy-to-understand score from zero to 100, allowing physicians to adjust the level of pain relief throughout surgery. 

The PMD-200 device was granted FDA approval in February to be used in US hospitals. It’s already been used in 60,000 procedures in Europe, Latin America, Canada, UAE, Turkey and Israel.

Source: Nocamels