Aytekin Ünlükaplan, MD

Aytekin Ünlükaplan, MD is an anesthesiology specialist at Acibadem Maslak Hospital in İstanbul, where he practices within the Anesthesiology & Reanimation unit. His work concerns the anesthetic care of patients around the time of surgery and other interventional procedures, from the planning stage through the operation itself to recovery, as well as the management of critically ill patients. He has more than 24 years of experience in medicine.

Dr. Ünlükaplan graduated from Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine in 2002. He then completed his specialty training at Başkent University Faculty of Medicine Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, finishing in 2011. In 2019 he joined Acıbadem Healthcare Services, and he currently provides anesthesiology and reanimation services as part of the anesthesiology team at the hospital in Maslak.

Clinical focus

The core of Dr. Ünlükaplan’s practice is perioperative anesthesia care. Before a procedure, this involves individualized anesthetic planning: reviewing the patient’s medical history, current medications, previous experiences with anesthesia and the requirements of the planned operation in order to select an anesthetic approach suited to that patient. During the procedure, perioperative monitoring of vital functions allows the anesthesia team to follow the patient’s condition closely and to adjust the anesthetic as needed. Perioperative pain control is planned as part of the same process, with the aim of managing discomfort during and after surgery in a way that is appropriate to the procedure and the individual patient.

After the operation, post-anesthesia recovery care covers the period in which patients emerge from anesthesia and are observed until they are stable. Dr. Ünlükaplan is also involved in critical care management, the care of patients whose condition requires close observation and organ support in an intensive care setting. Anesthesiology and reanimation is, by its nature, a team-based discipline, and he works alongside surgeons and other specialists so that anesthetic and critical care decisions are coordinated with the overall treatment plan.

How Dr. Ünlükaplan works with international patients

Dr. Ünlükaplan speaks Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for patients who need support in other languages. For international patients, the Acibadem international patient team coordinates the collection of prior reports and imaging, such as MRI, CT, X-ray or ultrasound reports, laboratory and pathology results, operative notes and discharge summaries, and arranges appointments and the hospital visit. A first consultation typically covers the patient’s history and symptoms, a review of existing imaging and previous treatments, a clinical examination and a discussion of the options; for anesthesiology this usually includes questions about past anesthetics, allergies, current medications and chronic conditions relevant to the planned procedure. Video consultations are available for international patients, which may allow some of this preliminary discussion to take place before travel.