General anesthesia is the creation of a temporary loss of consciousness and a decrease in reflex activity by administering various drugs to the patient through respiratory and vascular access without any change in vital functions. Application of general anesthesia; It prevents the patient's awareness during surgery by causing temporary loss of consciousness, provides comfort to the patient during surgery by eliminating pain, and facilitates surgical intervention by reducing reflex activity and providing muscle relaxation. During general anesthesia, all muscles, including the muscles that allow the patient to breathe, are paralyzed.

During the procedure, the patient breathes with a respirator. The person performing the anesthesia regularly monitors the patient's vital signs during the procedure. Examining parameters such as blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygenation rate is of important value in ensuring a safe surgical procedure. The purpose of general anesthesia, which provides a reversible loss of consciousness and desensitization to pain, is to provide appropriate surgical conditions and for the patient to lose consciousness and not feel any pain during the surgery.

Before anesthesia is applied, the person is monitored and controlled. In addition, it is the anesthesiologist's duty to maintain the health and safety of the patient. In general anesthesia, various drugs are administered alone or in combination. There is a preparation phase before anesthesia. The preparation phase for anesthesia is called preanesthetic medication or premedication. Purposes of Premedication Application: It is used to calm the patient and relieve his/her concerns and fears about the surgery. To facilitate and accelerate the induction. To eliminate the effects of the anesthetics to be given (nausea, pain, allergy, etc.) It is used to reduce the dose of surgical anesthetics to be given. General anesthesia; It is administered intravenously (intravenous injection, TIVA) and inhalation (breathing, VIMA). Intravenous anesthetics are anesthetic drugs that are used to create anesthesia by applying into the veins. Inhalation anesthetics are given to the patient by airway. The anesthetic gas taken from the lung first reaches the alveoli in the lung, where gas exchange is achieved. It passes from the alveoli to the blood. It is distributed to the brain and other tissues through the blood. When it reaches a certain concentration in the brain, an anesthetic effect occurs. The anesthesiologist monitors the person's health condition throughout the surgery and reduces or increases the amount of medication accordingly. After general anesthesia is given, the patient is in a deep sleep and does not feel what is happening. Then, the anesthesiologist intubates the patient by giving muscle relaxants. Thanks to intubation, the patient is connected to an anesthesia device and artificial respiration is initiated, and thanks to this method, the pressure in the airway, the amount of anesthetic drugs in the person's body are constantly monitored, as is the amount of oxygen taken in and out of the body by breathing. The effect of an ideal anesthetic should start and end quickly. The longer the effect of the anesthetic substance lasts, the more its effects on the systems will continue. There are 3 basic periods of general anesthesia application. 1. Induction Phase: This is the phase where anesthesia begins. Essentially, this phase is the only period that the patient can remember. The induction phase is the phase when all systems begin to be affected. The most serious effects will undoubtedly occur in the respiratory system and circulatory system. It is a phase in which the patient cannot breathe on his own following the administration of medications, needs artificial support in this regard, and dramatic changes occur in the patient's vital signs due to the suppression of protective mechanisms. In order to keep these dramatic changes under control; The effects of the drugs that cause these changes, the mechanisms by which these effects occur, and the precautions to be taken to prevent these consequences from occurring should be known. 2. Maintenance Phase: Following the initial phase of anesthesia, this is the phase in which the patient is delivered to the surgical team with unconsciousness and airway patency. The phase in which anesthesia continues is the maintenance phase. The maintenance phase is a phase where follow-up and precautions are intense. The patient is connected to the anesthesia machine, respiratory functions are artificially provided by the machine, and a surgical procedure is in progress. 3. Recovery Phase: This is the phase in which anesthesia is terminated and the administration of anesthetic drugs is completed. The most important issue that needs to be especially sensitive during the recovery phase is complications related to the respiratory system. This stage is especially about complications that will prevent the patient from performing respiratory functions for different reasons; It should be carefully considered in terms of its types and approaches. At the end of the surgery, the anesthesia drugs used are stopped and the patient's breathing and reflexes are restored under the supervision of the anesthesiologist. The patient is removed from the ventilator at the appropriate time. When his breathing returns to normal and he regains consciousness, he is taken from the operating table to the recovery room under the supervision of the anesthesiologist. In the recovery room, the patient's pain is relieved, he is warmed up, some precautions are taken against nausea and vomiting, and he is sent to his room comfortably.