The spinal cord relays these messages to the brain. The brain then interprets the signals as pain or other sensations. Anesthesia temporarily interrupts this relay system. The body is brought to a level of sleep where there is no sensation, memory or movement. The level of anesthesia is constantly fine-tuned by the anesthesiologist for each patient.
General anesthesia is reversed at the end of surgery and the patient is taken to the recovery room.
Patients may be awake or asleep. If awake, a patient may feel movement and pressure but not any pain. Peripheral nerve blocks numb specific nerves coming from the surgery site. It is usually only useful for operations on small areas. The anesthesiologist both fine-tunes the sedation and manages the patient's medical conditions.