Hillcrest Hospital's Department of Anesthesia is offering a variety of advanced alternatives that not only reduce costs and length of stay, but also provide patients the highest quality and safest anesthesia care possible.Hillcrest is among a select group of hospitals nationwide and the first hospital in Northeastern Ohio to perform two new regional anesthesia procedures, thoracic and lumbar paravetebral blockade, thereby eliminating the need for general anesthesia.

Both procedures are proven to have benefits for patients, including decreased pain, nausea and vomiting following surgery.As an example, thoracic paravetebral blockade allows breast surgery to be performed on an outpatient basis when historically patients, who were administered general anesthesia, were hospitalized and experienced a long, painful recovery, nausea and vomiting.

The new Bispectral Index or BIS monitor is part of an ongoing initiative to continuously improve the quality of patient care. Hillcrest joins an increasing number of institutions throughout the United States that are adopting this technology.BIS monitoring allows the anesthesia provider to assess a patient's level of consciousness during surgery and customize the amount of anesthetic drugs necessary. Use of this technology reduces the amount of drugs administered and results in faster, more predictable patient wake-up times and improved quality of patient recovery.

Volume continues to grow at the Cleveland Clinic Pain Management Center at Hillcrest Hospital. Patients are truly benefiting from this comprehensive program that offers a variety treatment options for people suffering with chronic pain.