Definition of anesthetic | Bee Dictionary of English

n a drug that causes temporary loss of bodily sensations
a relating to or producing insensibility
s characterized by insensibility
the young girls are in a state of possession--blind and deaf and anesthetic
an anesthetic state

Operations without an anesthetic are the norm.
Diprivan, also known as propofol, is typically used in hospital-operating theaters as an intravenous anesthetic.
It's pretty hard to numb up bone with a local anesthetic so I was glad to have Frank, the anesthesiologist, there at the head of the table with some IV sedatives, in case Ellen got .

Jackson suffered almost total sleep deprivation, expert testifies
Dr. Charles Czeisler, a Harvard University sleep expert, says the singer's symptoms indicated near-total sleep deprivation for about two months as a result of use of the anesthetic propofol. A Harvard University sleep expert testified Friday in the Michael Jackson wrongful-death case that the singer suffered from almost total sleep deprivation for about two months as a result of his daily use of ...
June 22, 2013 - Los Angeles Times
Expert: Jackson was suffering from total sleep deprivation when he died
Michael Jackson was an insomniac suffering from total sleep deprivation when he died four years ago, a sleep expert testified today. Dr. Charles Czeisler, a Harvard Medical School scientist, said the surgical anesthetic propofol that Dr. Conrad Murray gave Jackson on a nightly basis was putting the pop star into...
June 21, 2013 - New York Post
Anesthetic Choice Does Not Affect Duration of Hospitalization
The use of a less-expensive, longer-acting anesthetic (isoflurane) resulted in no difference in duration of hospitalization compared to the use of a more expensive, shorter-acting anesthetic (desflurane or sevoflurane), according to a study from the July issue of Anesthesiology .
June 19, 2013 - Newswise

Marvin Lewis in USA Today
Carson is feeling fine,Lewis said in a statement released by the club. "He suffered a small crack in one of the nose bones. The bone was gently put back into place this morning under local anesthetic."
David Petraeus in Forexyard
What (the doctor) did do is he cut an X into my skin with no anesthetic at all and drove a plastic tube right into my lung,Petraeus said in an earlier interview. "That was the most painful experience in my life. That was the only time in...
Norman Cousins in Tampa Tribune
I made the joyous discovery that 10 minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep,Cousins wrote.