Anesthesia and Critical Care at UPMC

At UPMC we perform general, regional and local anesthesia procedures during medical treatments and surgeries. Each of our facilities is equipped with an intensive care unit to accommodate people in serious health conditions. For example, those who, as a result of an illness or an accident, have sustained serious injuries.

Book an Appointment

At UPMC, we offer anesthesiology and intensive care services in the following facilities:

• UPMC Salvator Mundi International Hospital.
• IRCCS ISMETT – UPMC.

What Are Anesthesiology and Intensive Care?

Anesthesiology is the branch of medicine in which specialists assist people before, during and after surgery. In particular, anesthesiologists are experts in both administering anesthesia and providing critical care.

Anesthesia has the effect of temporarily suppressing the pain sensations felt by the body. It is a pharmacological treatment that can be administered intravenously or by inhalation, involving the whole body, or only a specific region, or the limbs. There are several types:

• General anesthesia. It is used in most surgeries. The drug induces unconsciousness and total muscle relaxation in the person. During administration, breathing is supported by a device with which doctors can monitor the patient's vital signs.
• Deep intravenous sedation. It is used in diagnostic procedures that are minimally invasive but uncomfortable. In these cases, the injected drug causes loss of consciousness but not muscle relaxation. The sedated person then continues to breathe unassisted, unlike with general anesthesia.
• Regional anesthesia. During some surgeries, it may be necessary for the patient to stay awake. This type of anesthesia blocks nerve impulses in a large area of the body – the one that surgeons operate on. An example of this procedure is epidural anesthesia, used for women in labor.
• Local anesthesia. It is frequently used during screening procedures such as biopsies and endoscopic diagnostic tests necessary for the removal of skin lesions. The anesthetic acts here only on the affected area, into which it is injected. The patient remains awake during the operation, without feeling pain, and can go home immediately afterwards.

At our Centers, we offer visits and anesthesiology and intensive care services to people of all ages in critical health conditions.

In our intensive care units, patients' vital functions are monitored until they are restored. Assistance is guaranteed 24 hours a day, until breathing, neurological activity and other parameters return positive and stable. Subsequently, the person will be transferred to the ward where he will continue his hospitalization.

Anesthesiology and Critical Care at UPMC

Pain control is needed in many medical and surgical procedures, such as invasive diagnostic procedures and examinations (for example, biopsies, gastroscopies, and colonoscopies), require pain control. At UPMC, you will find teams of specialized anesthetists who will take care of choosing and practicing the anesthesia procedure that is most suitable for the surgery or examination you will undergo.

The anesthesiological visit is done at least 24 hours before the execution of the surgical procedure. It is used to evaluate the general health conditions of the person and to give them information about the surgical procedures related to the intervention. It also serves to collect the informed consent of the patient, who thus agrees to undergo surgery or diagnostic examination.

Furthermore, during the visit, the anesthetist may decide to prescribe further tests, to make sure that the person is actually able to tolerate the anesthesia without problems.

Who Can Turn to Anesthesiology and Intensive Care?

UPMC's anesthesiology services are for all patients, including those who will have to undergo medical or surgical procedures that require partial or general sedation.

Intensive care services accommodate patients of all ages. Hospitalization in this ward may prove necessary following complex and demanding surgical interventions due to trauma or after the worsening of an existing condition.