TiVA

Tiva, often written as TIVA in uppercase, is a term most commonly associated with medicine, where it denotes Total Intravenous Anesthesia. This anesthesia technique relies on intravenous drugs to induce and maintain loss of consciousness and analgesia, rather than inhaled volatile anesthetic agents.

In a TIVA approach, anesthetic hypnosis is typically achieved with agents such as propofol, sometimes combined with a short-acting opioid like remifentanil or fentanyl for analgesia. Additional medications such as lidocaine, ketamine, or dexmedetomidine may be used to modulate pain, inflammation, or hemodynamics. The drugs are delivered via continuous infusion, often with programmable pumps, to allow precise titration according to patient response and surgical factors.

Advantages of TIVA can include reduced postoperative nausea and vomiting, smoother emergence from anesthesia, and the ability to tailor anesthesia to specific patient needs or surgical settings. It may be preferred for patients with airway irritability, certain allergies, or situations where avoidance of inhaled agents is desirable. TIVA also offers rapid adjustment of drug levels, which can be beneficial in short procedures or in patients requiring strict hemodynamic control.

Challenges and considerations involve the need for careful dosing, monitoring, and airway management. There is a potential risk of intraoperative awareness if dosing is inadequate, and rare complications such as propofol infusion syndrome can occur with high-dose or prolonged infusions. Successful use of TIVA requires skilled anesthesia providers, appropriate monitoring, and reliable infusion technology.

Other uses of the term Tiva are less standardized and not as widely recognized, with no single nonmedical definition dominating. In most professional contexts, TIVA refers to the anesthesia technique described above.