Assoc. Prof. Nurcan Kızılcık, MD

Assoc. Prof. Nurcan Kızılcık, MD is an anesthesiology specialist working in the Anesthesiology & Reanimation unit at Acibadem Atasehir Hospital in İstanbul. Her clinical work covers anesthesiology and reanimation, with particular involvement in regional anesthesia, intensive care, and thoracic cardiovascular anesthesia and intensive care. She has more than 28 years in medicine and joined Acıbadem Healthcare Services in 2022.

Dr. Kızılcık graduated from Trakya University Faculty of Medicine in 1998 and completed her specialty training in Anesthesiology and Reanimation at İstanbul University İstanbul Faculty of Medicine in 2009. She worked at Afyonkarahisar Devlet Hospital from 2008 to 2010 and then at Yeditepe University Department of Anesthesiology from 2010 to 2022, where she became an Associate Professor in 2019. She is a member of the Turkish Anesthesiology and Reanimation Association, the Turkish Intensive Care Association, The European Society of Regional Anaesthesia, the Turkish Medical Association, the European Socİety of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, the Thoracic Cardiovascular Anesthesia and Intensive Care Association, and the Regional Anesthesia Association.

Clinical focus

Dr. Kızılcık’s practice centers on anesthesiology and reanimation, including the planning and delivery of anesthesia for patients undergoing surgery and the care of patients who need close monitoring afterward. Her areas of expertise include regional anesthesia, in which nerve blocks or neuraxial techniques are used to numb a specific region of the body, and intensive care, covering the management of critically ill patients. She also works in thoracic cardiovascular anesthesia and thoracic cardiovascular intensive care, which involve anesthesia and postoperative critical care for patients undergoing chest, heart, and vascular procedures.

Her published research reflects these clinical interests. Topics she has studied with colleagues include postoperative pain relief and opioid consumption in obese patients undergoing sleeve gastrectomy, intra-articular analgesia after arthroscopic meniscectomy, prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting, propofol injection pain, emergence agitation in children after sevoflurane anesthesia, airway assessment in obese patients, patient positioning for neuraxial anesthesia, and lower urinary tract discomfort after transurethral resection of the prostate. This work has appeared in journals such as Obesity Surgery, the Korean Journal of Anesthesiology, the Journal of Anesthesia, and Acta Orthopaedica et Traumatologica Turcica. The anesthetic approach for any individual patient is decided after a review of that patient’s medical history, planned procedure, and current condition.

How Dr. Kızılcık works with international patients

Dr. Kızılcık speaks Turkish and English, and interpreters can be arranged for patients who speak other languages. Before a visit, 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, arranges appointments, and organizes 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, including the anesthetic considerations relevant to a planned procedure. Video consultation is available for international patients who wish to discuss their case with Dr. Kızılcık before traveling.