How Safe is Anesthesia?

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When I was a kid, I had seen a picture in my Science text book, of a man's wound being cauterized while he was being held down by people and it must have been quite awful for the man. Thanks to technological and medical innovations, anesthesia was invented and  people are able to go through any surgery without pain. Use of general anesthesia is quite common during surgeries. Although rare, complications related to anesthesia can crop up sometimes during a surgery, it is infrequent and only in exceptional cases has it been found to be fatal. Malignant hyperthermia effect is one such problem occurring due to administration of general anesthesia but the ratio is 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 30,000 patients and the persons dying due to such complications is even rarer, about 1 in 5 million. But even then when medical science is all about saving life, losing even a single life is a lot as life is priceless. Some of the  other side effects seen in some patients are, aches in muscles, dizziness and nausea. Though not everyone but a lot people do undergo surgery, minor or major at some point in life and it is always better that you are knowledgeable about the pros and cons of related treatments and drugs.

What is General Anesthesia?

According to American Society of Anesthesiology and other conventional medical books, general anesthesia is expressed as a drug induced loss of consciousness from which it is impossible to wake the patient even in extreme pain. This treatment can be described also as the manipulation of human physiology with the help of medications that can otherwise be threatening to health and life. Today, anesthesia is widely and commonly administered in all surgical treatments all around the world and the complications arising due to it are certainly very rare.

What are the Dangers of Anesthesia?

In general, patients who are healthy are rarely affected by complications due to anesthesia administration. But complications can occur at times because of the composition of anesthesia which is a mix of medications that are injected in veins or even inhaled directly.  Anesthesia when given affects the entire body including brain, lungs and heart. Some of the complications include hypertension or lowering of blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, rise in temperature of body, problem in breathing, heart stroke or attack or even death when all the problems arise at the same time.

What are the problems caused by drugs  when used with Anesthesia?

Anesthesia is a mixture of several drugs. Many times when it is prescribed along with other recreations drugs, complications can occur. Smoking, drinking or drug abuse can give rise to health problems during surgery. Hence the doctors ask the patients to stop use of any of the above intoxicants, a couple of days prior to the date of surgery. A person who is addicted to smoking has enhanced hyperactivity in airways and is more vulnerable to heart complications at the time of surgery. Pulmonary problems like wheezing, coughing with sputum, coughing, shortness of breath or spitting up of blood should be treated before surgery to minimize the complications. If the patient is intoxicated with alcohol, the anesthesia needed is comparatively less. Many times the patient stops drinking alcohol before surgery due to which the body may show indications of hypertension, tremors, seizures and delirium. In such a situation, use of anesthesia can increase the risk of palpitation, angina, seizures and disorders in heart rate. A person who regularly uses narcotics may need more amount of anesthesia to get unconscious. Making sure you follow the suggested guidelines of stop eating food before a certain time otherwise which it can lead to complications such as aspiration pneumonia(breathing of food into lungs while vomiting).

What are the Precautions to be taken before the administration of Anesthesia?

Anesthesia is generally safe. Knowing your family history in regard to reaction with anesthesia should be discussed with your doctor. If anyone is allergic to anesthesia in the the family, the doctor should be given that information. If you feel that certain criteria can increase risk of other problems during surgery, you should abstain from the stuff leading to it. If you are obese, it is advisable to get to at least healthy weight before surgery and if you are using drugs, you should abstain from taking it so that anesthesia and other medications prescribed during surgery do not cause any complications. 

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