Dr. Bernard Wittels M.D., PH.D.

Anesthesiologist

355 Ridge Avenue Evanston IL, 60202 Show map

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About

Dr. Bernard Wittels is an anesthesiologist practicing in Evanston, IL. Dr. Wittels ensures the safety of patients who are about to undergo surgery. Anesthesiologists specialize in general anesthesia, (keeping patients unconscious, hemodynamically stable, and pain-free), sedation, (reducing anxiety and inducing a state of calm sleepiness) , and regional anesthesia, (numbing a region of the body using local anesthetics). As an anesthesiologist, Dr. Wittels also provides acute pain management after an operation using peripheral nerve blocks and patient-controlled intravenous opioids.

Education and Training

Univ of Chicago, Pritzker Sch of Med, Chicago Il 1986

U Of Chgo Div Of Bio Sci Pritzker Sch Of Med 1986

Board Certification

AnesthesiologyAmerican Board of AnesthesiologyABA

Provider Details

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Dr. Bernard Wittels M.D., PH.D.

Dr. Bernard Wittels M.D., PH.D.'s Expert Contributions

My Latest Posts
My Answers

The Silent Killer
She moves in a stealthy manner, makes no sounds, emits no scent, you insist that you don’t know her and you have no reason to be suspicious of anything. Who is this sly culprit? Your cardiologist knows her, your nephrologist does too; even your opthalmologist, internist, obstetrician and...
Pain-Free Labor and Delivery
Many pregnant women near their delivery date have preconceived notions about the management of their labor and delivery. Some plan a “natural” delivery, some want only intravenous opioids for pain relief, and others want an epidural anesthetic as soon as possible. For women who have never...

Is anesthesia safe for older people with dementia?
Older patients with dementia have shortened life expectancies with or without anesthesia. A brief surgery with an anesthetic that does not decrease the patient's blood pressure should have no detrimental effect. READ MORE
Is plavix( clopidogrel ) a blood thinner?
Plavix should be discontinued 2 weeks prior to major orthopedic surgery. Consult with your cardiologist, surgeon, and anesthesiologist well before. They may plan a bridging therapy for blood thinning before surgery and test your blood for its clotting ability. These have a direct influence on the choice of anesthetics that you can receive. READ MORE
Is laughing gas ok for someone with anxiety?
Laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, has analgesic and anesthetic properties, but is not an anxiolytic, and can increase sympathetic nervous system drive. I would not recommend it for you. I would recommend taking an anxiolytic, like valium, a few hour before surgery to treat your anxiety, and be sure to have someone drive you to your dentist and home as you will not be reliably safe as a driver after taking valium. READ MORE
Nausea after surgery
The best options are to fast at least 12 hours prior to surgery, receive a scopolamine patch prior to surgery, have your anesthesiologist empty your stomach while you are asleep, and give at least 2 different anti-emetics before you wake up, with minimal use of narcotics. READ MORE
Chance of serious complication from anesthesia?
Wisdom tooth extraction is a minor procedure. If it is done in a hospital operating room setting with an anesthesiologist, OR nurses, and ancillary staff present, it is a very safe procedure. If done in a dentist's office without an anesthesiologist, and using dentist-administered nitrous oxide, it is less safe. READ MORE
Do kids need anesthesia before being taken for a CT scan?
Pneumonia in a 2-year-old does not require a CT scan for diagnosis. A simple blood test for infection, sputum culture for specificity of the organism, and a quick, painless chest radiogram will do just fine in defining the cause and treatment of his pneumonia. READ MORE
What decides the medication before my surgery?
Your anesthesiologist decides what premedication, if any, to give you prior to general anesthesia for your surgery. This decision may be based on your state of health, level of alertness, degree of disability, time of day, concomitant use of medications (drug interactions) and other factors. Of course, communicating your concerns, apprehensions, anxiety and nervousness to your anesthesiologist and requesting a calming medication before surgery are good ways to insure receiving that medication if you so desire. READ MORE
Am I really paralyzed under general anesthesia?
General anesthesia may mean different things under different circumstances. For some surgeries, like knee arthroscopy and hysteroscopy, the patient may be asleep but no muscle relaxants are needed so the patient is not paralyzed. Other more invasive surgeries, like laparoscopy and exploratory laparotomy do require the use of muscle relaxants to insure a motionless operative field for safe surgical technique. Anesthesiologists administer drugs and monitor patients to insure that they are not conscious during both kinds of general anesthesia. Muscle relaxants are reversed at the end of surgery, so both groups of surgical patients have full motor strength when they awaken from general anesthesia. Anesthesiologists are careful to insure patient unconsciousness (along with adequate oxygenation, ventilation, and hemodynamic stability) when muscle relaxants are used, so that no patient should ever experience any wakefulness when paralyzed during surgery. READ MORE
Sickness after anesthesia?
Nausea and vomiting are well known complications of general anesthesia. The more empty your stomach is, the less nausea you will have, which is why a fasting period of 8-12 hours is recommended prior to surgery. Also, anesthesiologists are well aware of the risk and nearly always give multiple anti-nausea medications to prevent nausea. If a patient still develops nausea after anesthesia and surgery, then the same or different anti-nausea medications can be given intravenously to dissipate nausea within a minute or two. READ MORE
Do I have to stop taking my vitamins before anesthesia?
Vitamin B12, probiotics and vitamin D are safe to continue the day before surgery, but their duration of actions are long enough that you will not feel any deleterious effect by skipping doses for a day. Medications that may affect your surgery and anesthesia include aspirin and aspirin-like products, anticoagulants, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, and herbal medications such as garlic, ginseng, gingko biloba, and others. It may be necessary to stop these medications for 2-3 weeks prior to elective surgery. READ MORE
Type 1 diabetes and general anethesia
For patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, it is best to be well controlled under the close guidance of an endocrinologist well before any elective surgery. In general, diabetic patients should not take any regular insulin on the morning of surgery when they are fasting. Continue to monitor his blood glucose and report those data to your anesthesiologist. Also discuss what symptoms your son has when his glucose is too low. Your anesthesiologist should be able to monitor your son's glucose during surgery (although deviated septum repair is a relatively short surgery) and nurses in the recovery room can check his blood glucose as well. Insulin is always available to treat significant hyperglycemia, and you can begin to restart his normal insulin regimen when he resumes a normal dietary intake. READ MORE
What is procedural anesthesia?
Typically, most "procedures" involve endoscopy of the GI tract where no skin incision is performed. Stoic patients with high pain tolerances can tolerated these procedures with mild sedation given by nurses. On the other hand, anxious, sensitive patients require deep sedation that requires the skill and training of an anesthesiologist to induce and maintain a deep anesthetic state with close control and monitoring of oxygenation, ventilation and hemodynamics. These are usually short procedures and short anesthetics with rapid emergence and early readiness for discharge. "Surgical" anesthesia is required for surgeries where skin incision and internal exploration occurs; anesthesiologists induce patient unconsciousness, control their oxygenation and ventilation, and may administer muscle relaxants to insure an immobile surgical field. READ MORE
What is procedural anesthesia?
Although "procedural anesthesia" is not commonly used, it represents the type of anesthesia used for non-surgical procedures, such as electroconvulsive treatments, joint manipulations, and others. It may involve any form of anesthesia (local, nerve block, regional, or general) and is usually specific to the procedure involved. READ MORE