Outpatient Surgery

The majority of Dr. McKinstry’s surgeries are performed in an outpatient or ambulatory surgery center. In this case Dr. McKinstry will provide local anesthesia while a board certified anesthesiologist provides light or heavy sedation and monitoring to make sure that all of the patient’s vital signs (heart function, respiratory function and blood pressure) are stable throughout the procedure.

The board certified anesthesiologist will put an intravenous line into the patient’s arm. Through this line, a twilight sleep is induced. The patient is given sedating medication so that he or she does not feel Dr. McKinstry injecting the local anesthesia into the area that will be operated on. The patient however is awake enough to breath on his or her own. The area that is being operated on is numb and the patient is relaxed and often sleeping lightly. In some cases, the patient may require more sedation so the patient is not aware of anything. In such cases, an airway is placed to keep the patient’s breathing passageways open.