Anesthesiology

Specialized Care 24/7

Anesthesiologists are a vital part of the team serving the Albany Med Health System. They are available at all of our hospitals.

Depending on your surgery, you may receive:

Local anesthesia, which prevents pain in a small area. You remain awake and alert.
Regional anesthesia, which is used to numb a larger part of the body. Examples include spinal blocks and epidurals. Depending on the procedure—and what you prefer—you may remain awake or you may be given a sedative to help you relax or even fall asleep.
General anesthesia, which puts you to sleep, and is used for major surgeries.

State-Designated Trauma Center

Albany Medical Center is the region's only state-designated trauma center, where anesthesiology services are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to meet the needs of patients of all ages facing a scheduled medical procedure or one that is unexpected.

Care For Your Condition

Our physicians and nurse anesthetists support the full range of surgical and pain management needs of our patients. As an academic medical system, we offer specialized expertise in many areas of medicine.

Cardiac Anesthesiology

The cardiac anesthesiology team provides care for open heart and less invasive structural heart disease patients. In addition to administering anesthesia, we use advanced echocardiography to assist in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures with our interventional cardiology colleagues.

The Albany Med Health System is high-volume for transcatheter valve implantation, MitraClip and Watchman procedures, which are at the leading edge of minimally invasive cardiac procedures.

Obstetric Anesthesiology

Center of Excellence

Albany Medical Center is a Center of Excellence for our extraordinary clinical care along with outstanding patient safety. From the routine delivery without intervention to the complex high-risk patient requiring a multidisciplinary approach, our goal is to provide reliable, immediate anesthesiology services to meet every pregnant patient’s needs.

Pediatric Anesthesiology

Our specially trained pediatric anesthesiologists provide care to children and their families at the Bernard & Millie Duker Children's Hospital at Albany Medical Center.

We offer anesthesia for diagnostic procedures including cardiac catheterization, endoscopy, nuclear medicine, MRI and computer tomography scans. In the operating rooms we provide anesthesia and perioperative care for patients undergoing general pediatric surgery, pediatric urology, ENT, ophthalmologic, dental, plastic and orthopedic procedures, as well as congenital cardiac and thoracic surgery and procedures in vascular radiology.

Chronic Pain Management

Our goal is to improve the quality of life of our patients and their functionality. We offer a range of therapies for chronic pain and try to tailor the treatment plan to each patient's specific needs. We offer consultations for both spine and non-spine related chronic pain conditions. A range of therapies is offered including minimally invasive procedures depending on a patient's needs and diagnosis.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS)

Albany Medical Center pioneered Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) with the goal of improving overall patient experience and outcomes. The ERAS team uses nerve blocks and a combination of oral and intravenous medications for pain control to minimize use of opioid-based medications. This helps to avoid the negative side effects of opioids, and the dangers associated with their potential misuse. ERAS seeks to optimize patient health prior to surgery, manage post-operative pain using innovative and evidence-based practices, and ensure that a patient returns to normal activities as soon as possible.

ERAS Aids in Recovery Time

The ERAS team’s work has led to improved patient satisfaction, decreased complications and reduced lengths of hospital stay across many surgical specialties, including colorectal, urology and oncology. Since the program’s implementation in 2016, statistics show decreases in cardiac complications, hospital readmissions, pneumonia, blood clots, infection, and even mortality rates of surgical patients.

ERAS is currently used for select patients and surgeries. Your care team will let you know if this option is available to you.