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Running head: Anesthesia 1

Anesthesia: Comments and Concerns that Still Exist

Desiree Nieto

University of Texas at El Paso

Dr. Judith Fourzan

English 1302: Rhetoric and Composition 2


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Today, surgeries and other various medical procedures are a very common occurrence

and there are plenty of them that require anesthesia. Anesthesia induces patients in a kind of

sleep-like state where their nerves are unable to send pain signals to the brain. This is a very

important advancement since things like surgery would be severely painful otherwise. However,

there is still a lot that is left to be desired from anesthesia technology, resulting in complications

and even death from the drugs alone. These two genres present arguments about the concerns

and advancements that still need to be made before it can be completely safe for everyone. The

first genre is a scholarly article by D. John Doyle and Yannick LeManach entitled “Advances in

anesthesia technology are improving patient care, but many challenges remain” where it details

what has been done to improve how anesthesia is used as well as what advancements still need to

be made. The second genre is a YouTube video posted by the Health Mind Body Spirit channel

titled “General Anesthesia Side Effects and Complications” where it goes in dept on what can go

wrong to a patient due to the drugs.

Audience and Purpose

The audience for the scholarly article is very well-educated individuals that understand

medical concepts and other science related topics, particularly those relating to anesthesia. This

is evident when the reader looks into the authors of this article, noting their background history

as university professors with majors in anesthesiology as well as having extensive backgrounds

in research for this particular subject. This can lead the reader to determine that there is a level of

more advanced knowledge that the authors expect from their readers. Furthermore, since it is a

scholarly article, it is formatted in a unique way, unlike other articles, such as containing an

abstract, an extensive references section of 69 sources, and having it be published by a company

well known for its very impressive articles, BMC Medicine. In contrast, the video isn’t as well
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credited as the article, leaving the audience to a more civilian perspective in the sense that those

with no medical knowledge can understand it without having to be too focused on details such as

medical terminology. The video does a good job of being a resource for side effects to going

under anesthesia since it is a video on YouTube, a platform for children, teens and millennials,

none of which commonly have a deeper understanding of anesthesia other than the “sleeping

drug.” This allows for it to be easier to follow and since it is audio, the audience is able to hear

and comprehend any abbreviation or disease followed by its definition and purpose in the

anesthesia world. The purpose, however, is where both genres are the most similar. They are

intended to inform the audience of various issues that exist in anesthesia technology and how

they affect patients. They both share a common goal of letting different aspects of the public,

whether educated or not, what lacks in anesthesia technology.

Ethos

The scholarly article develops its credibility by being written by well established

anesthesiologists, Dr, John Doyle, a professor at the College of Medicine of Case Western

Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and Dr. Yannick LeManach, a representative of the

Department of Anesthesia and Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at the Michael

DeGroote School of Medicine in West Hamilton, Canada, among other authors they collaborated

with throughout the research for the article. This shows that they not only were able to do

research, they used their background knowledge from being involved in anesthesia technology to

be able to describe in greater detail what sort of things are left to be desired from it, such as how

long it takes for one of the machines involved in monitoring the patient under anesthesia is to test

prior to the administer of the drugs (Doyle, 2019). The video doesn’t have as much credibility as

the article since it was published on YouTube by a channel that could be created by anyone. The
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channel, though, is called Health Mind Body Spirit and all of the videos are related to various

medical situation such as Cortical Vision Impairment, Cancer and even Ebola, aside from

anesthesia. It currently has over 35 thousand subscribers with some of their videos dating back as

far as five years, so the channel does share a wide variety of knowledge in the medical industry.

Furthermore, in the anesthesia video, it details PONV, post-operative nausea and vomiting, a

common side effect of anesthesia, how it is caused and how a patient can go about treating it

(Health, 2018).

Pathos

In the article, as goes through the pros and cons of what anesthesia is capable and not

capable of today, it gives a feeling of inspiration that there has been so much advancements with

this technology that the reader should be proud of, such as ultrasound machines that can connect

to a cell phone to monitor the lungs and veins throughout a procedure. However, there is also a

level of concern because it also addresses the issues on the technology, such as some machines

sounding their alarms when the patient shows normal vital signs, where the author notes that the

distraction “diverts attention from the patient to silence the alarms,” (Doyle, 2019, p. 12).

Similarly, the video does express the same level of concern as the article, that there are issues

still present in anesthesia practices that affect the patients more than some realize, such as the

LMA, or Laryngeal Mask Airway, a mask used to administer the gas version of the anesthesia

which can result in difficulty breathing for the patient since sufficient oxygen is unable to be

taken in by the body (Health, 2018). Unlike the article, it does give the audience an idea of what

to expect when being put under anesthesia, giving the audience a sense of comfort just knowing

a possible side effect of going under, since people fear the unknown more than the known. That

results in the more common audience it is intended for to be able to apply the information they
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gathered from the video, since if they would be given the article, they would be left with more

questions than answers.

Logos

For the article, the logic behind it is shown by the 69 cited sources throughout the article

and all put at the end with the number by their contribution to the article as well as where the

reader can learn more about the subject. The sources themselves came mostly from safety

articles such as “Surgical Safety Checklists: A Review” and “The Role of the Anesthesiologist in

Preoperative Patient Safety” and some from anesthesia technology review articles such as “Use

of Wearable Devices for Post-Discharge Monitoring of UCI Patients” and “Consumer Reports

for Anesthesia Equipment.” In contrast, rather than backing up the information with sources, the

video gives common sense as its logic. Things such as getting a sore throat from a breathing tube

after surgery is a very logical thing to happen, so the audience believes the statement. Although it

has its cons in doing this, it does provide a ground work of knowledge that the reader can either

go in depth further or simply accept without an other sources.

Structure and Delivery

The structure and delivery of the scholarly article is a very ridged one, meaning there was

a definite format since this article was published in a journal. It began with an abstract, then

discusses the advances, then the drawbacks, and finally a conclusion with a reference page at the

end. This structure led to a professional delivery since most typical readings are not presented to

the public in this way. On top of this, the article also goes into dept of each and every concern

anesthesia technology has, making it a longer read all together. This added element of having to

spend about an hour reading and deciphering uncommon terminology will more than likely deter

a good portion of the readers and limit the audience further. For the video, however, it was more
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fluid, in a more cause and effect manner, such as saying a side effect to anesthesia then why it

happens and how to cure it. This approach was easier to grasp than the article because it was

mostly a list of issues followed by the solutions, something a bit more common to everyday

people. This video is also only 15 minutes long, with more definitions to medical terminology so

the reader isn’t having to look up terms like LMA or PONV, since it distinctly explains it before

going onto the causes.

Conclusion

Therefore, out of the two genres, the scholarly article expresses in greater detail

and with more evidence the current situation with anesthesia technology, allowing the reader to

trust and believe in what is being discussed. Although the video did make valid points on side

effects, it is still not very trustworthy or supported in order to be taken into complete

consideration, which it even says in the description of the video “is not intended as a substitute

for informed medical advice” (Health, 2018, Desc.), whereas the other doesn’t go into the

medical disadvantages but the mechanical disadvantages, supported by qualified specialists in

anesthesiology.
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References

Doyle, D. J., & LeManach, Y. (2018, April 13). Advances in anesthesia technology are

improving patient care, but many challenges remain. Retrieved from

https://bmcanesthesiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12871-018-0504-x.

HMBS. (2018, May 12). General anesthesia side effects and complications. Retrieved September

20, 2019, from https://youtu.be/ekGKM3N4yas.

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