• A temporary loss of feeling and a complete loss of awareness that feels like a very deep sleep. It is caused by special drugs or other substances called anesthetics. General anesthesia keeps patients from feeling pain during surgery or other procedures.
  NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• State of total unconsciousness resulting from anesthetic drugs.
  CRISP Thesaurus
  National Institutes of Health, 2006
• (anesthesia, general) Procedure in which patients are induced into an unconscious state through use of various medications so that they do not feel pain during surgery.
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
• (general anesthesia procedure) Actions that render a patient unconscious for the purpose of performing a diagnostic or interventional procedure.
  NCI Thesaurus
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• General anesthesia (GA) is the state produced when a patient receives medications for amnesia, analgesia, muscle paralysis, and sedation. An anesthetized patient can be thought of as being in a controlled, reversible state of unconsciousness.
  Medscape
  WebMD, 2019
• General anesthesia is a combination of medications that put you in a sleep-like state before a surgery or other medical procedure. Under general anesthesia, you don't feel pain because you're completely unconscious. General anesthesia usually uses a combination of intravenous drugs and inhaled gasses (anesthetics).
  Mayo Clinic
  Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research