Why is anesthesia dangerous? Means for anesthesia. Complications of anesthesia

Any surgical intervention cannot be imagined without the use of anesthesia. Painkillers allow any operation, but it is impossible to predict how anesthetics will affect the body. The danger is that negative consequences can occur some time after using anesthesia.

What is general anesthesia?

General anesthesia is anesthesia and the introduction of the patient into an unconscious position, followed by withdrawal from it. It is used to block impulses from pain receptors during any surgical procedures.

You can achieve a complete shutdown of the patient’s consciousness by using special drugs for anesthesia, selected in a certain dosage.

History of use of anesthesia

The first to use pain relief was Avicenna. He had an interesting way, he cooled his limbs until his sensibility was lost. Ambroise Pare caused a loss of sensation by pinching nerves and blood vessels. In ancient Egypt, special sleepy tubes soaked in narcotic herbs were used.

Real anesthesia began to be used only at the end of the 19th century. The first drug was Cocaine Hydrochloride, but, given its high toxicity and a large number of deaths, it was quickly abandoned.

During the war years, even ethyl alcohol was used to bring a person to extreme intoxication, when sensitivity is dulled to the maximum.

Anesthetic Requirements

Drugs that are used in surgical practice for anesthesia must meet certain requirements:

1. Anesthesia should act faster and better without the stage of arousal.
2. The patient's sleep must be deep in order to perform the operation in optimal conditions and in full.
   
3. There is an opportunity for the anesthetist to control the depth of anesthesia.
4. The patient after surgery should quickly get out of this condition.
5. Minimal amount of side effects.
6. The drug must not be explosive or combustible.
7. Affordable cost.

The purpose of using anesthesia

Before figuring out what anesthesia is dangerous, it is important to understand what are the goals of using drugs to immerse a person in sleep, and they are as follows:

1. Qualitatively carry out surgery and in full.
2. Avoid discomfort and stress for the patient's body while performing surgical procedures.
3. Maximum control over the patient's condition during treatment and after the end of therapy.
4. Eliminate the risk of developing mental disorders.

Effects on the body

Anesthetic after administration has an effect on the body in several stages:

1. Gradual loss of sensation and loss of consciousness.
2. The stage of arousal, but it is not characteristic of all drugs.
3. Complete loss of consciousness and loss of all types of sensitivity.
4. Awakening with the return of pain and consciousness.

You can also highlight the stages of anesthesia:

1. Superficial anesthesia.
2. Easy.
3. Deep.
4. Super deep.
5. Agonal stage.

Varieties of anesthesia

To answer the question of what is anesthesia dangerous, it is necessary to understand its types. Depending on the route of penetration of the anesthetic into the human body, there are:

• Inhalation anesthesia. The patient inhales a gaseous preparation, for example, medical "Nitrous oxide" is introduced in this way.
  
• The introduction of the drug intramuscularly or intravenously.
• Combined anesthesia At the same time, the drug is injected into a vein and inhaled.
• Spinal anesthesia
• Epidural analgesia.

Comparison of epidural and spinal anesthesia

There is a difference between these two types of anesthesia and you need to know it. If spinal anesthesia is used, then the drug is administered by the spinal cord and the arachnoid membrane, with epidural analgesia, the anesthetic is administered above the dura mater.

There are some more differences:

• The introduction of a drug for anesthesia into the subdural space is less traumatic than a puncture of the soft membrane of the brain.
• Spinal anesthesia has a more extensive list of contraindications.
• Epidural anesthesia lasts longer, but the effect is slower.
• The introduction of a catheter in epidural anesthesia allows you to adjust the time of action of the drug.
• Spinal anesthesia has a more extensive list of indications for use.
  

What type of anesthesia to choose in each case, the doctor decides, taking into account the severity and extent of the upcoming surgical intervention.

Danger of anesthesia

The use of modern means can guarantee anesthesia in 100% of cases. During a surgical operation, an anesthetist is nearby and monitors the patient’s condition on the monitors of medical devices.

Many patients ask doctors why anesthesia is dangerous and is it possible to die from it? It is impossible to predict the body's response to the drug, so before the operation, an anesthesiologist talks with each patient. Modern technologies have significantly reduced the risk of death, but complications of general anesthesia cannot be completely prevented.

After anesthesia, how much they depart from anesthesia depends on the type of drug used, most often patients complain of:

• Nausea.
• Unpleasant and painful sensations in the throat.
• Convulsive syndrome.
• Loss of orientation.
• Headache.
• Pain in the lumbar region after spinal anesthesia.
• Muscle aches.
• Confusion of consciousness.

Such symptoms, as a rule, disappear a day after the operation, but some complications of anesthesia that accompany a person for a long time can be distinguished:

• Attacks of fear.
• Memory problems.
• Heart rhythm disturbance.
• Increased heart rate.
• High blood pressure.
• Violations of the liver and kidneys.

With an increase in the level of development of medicine, the mortality rate after using anesthesia decreased to 1%.

How does anesthesia affect the body?

For each patient, the type of anesthesia is selected individually, but how anesthesia affects the human body depends on its individual characteristics. In adult patients, the consequences may be as follows:

• Sleep disturbance.
• Speech problems.
• Migraine.
• Hallucinations.
• Cerebrovascular accident.
• The development of renal failure.
• Cerebral edema.
• Suffocation.
• Fatigue
• Decreased performance.
• Decreased attention span.
• The development of asthenic syndrome.

The severity of complications of anesthesia depends not only on the characteristics of the body, but also on the presence of concomitant diseases, the type of anesthesia and the drug used for this.

Varieties of anesthesia in children's practice

There are situations when it is simply impossible to do without the use of anesthesia during medical procedures on the children's body. If drugs have a negative effect on an adult, then what can be said about the child who has the formation of all systems.

In children's practice use:

• Inhalation anesthesia.
• Intravenous or intramuscular. It is rarely used, since the doctor does not have the ability to control the duration of anesthesia. It is proved that the drug "Ketamine", which is most often used for these purposes, is unsafe for the child.

Most often they practice mask-anesthesia. If the operation is long, then inhalation anesthesia is combined with intravenous. The following groups of drugs are used:

• Analgesics, but not narcotic.
• Muscle relaxants.
• Sleeping pills.
• Infusion solutions.

Before choosing the type of anesthesia for the child, the doctor must talk with the parents and find out:

• How did the pregnancy and the birth process go?
• The child was on artificial or natural feeding.
• What diseases did I have?
• Is there an allergy to medications?
• Whether vaccination is given, how the child responds to vaccinations.
  

There are no absolute prohibitions for using anesthesia, but there are relative contraindications to anesthesia in children:

• The presence of a chronic disease in the acute stage, which can negatively affect the condition of the body.
• Anomalies in the structure, for example, thymus hypertrophy.
• Diseases that cause breathing difficulties.
• Inhalation anesthesia is contraindicated if there is a curvature of the nasal septum, overgrown adenoids, chronic rhinitis.
• Allergy to drugs for anesthesia.
• After suffering an infectious disease, it is necessary to postpone the operation until the body is completely restored.

After anesthesia, the child should be monitored with particular care so as not to miss the development of complications.

The main groups of drugs used for anesthesia

Among inhaled drugs during surgery are used:

• "Sevoran".
• "Propofol", the instruction will be further considered.
• "Fluorotan".
• "Nitrous oxide".
• "Ether".

These funds give the following effect:

• Skeletal muscle relaxes.
• Pain sensitivity disappears.
• Loss of consciousness for a while.
• Loss of reflexes.

Among intravenous drugs in medical practice are used:

• "Thiopental sodium." Instructions for use contain detailed information.
• Hexenal.
• Seduxen.
• Ketamine.
• Fentanyl.

Intravenous administration of the drug causes a quick action, one dose allows you to disable a person for about 20 minutes.

In a medical institution, all drugs for anesthesia are subject to strict reporting and are stored in a special room in a safe. Be sure to keep a register of their consumption.

Consider the characteristic of the most commonly used tools.

"Ether"

The use of "Ether" is quite common, because the drug has many advantages:

• It gives a strong effect.
• Relatively safe.
• For use, special equipment is not required, a preparation and a gauze wipe are enough.

It should be noted the disadvantages of the tool:

• Immersion in sleep is slow.
• After inhalation of "Ether", increased motor activity in the first 15-20 minutes is noted.
• The patient slowly leaves anesthesia.

Has "Ether" for anesthesia side effects:

• Vapors of the drug are irritating to the mucous membranes, which leads to the appearance of cough and vomiting.
• After surgery, pneumonia often develops.

"Nitric oxide"

The drug also relates to gaseous agents. Medical “Nitrous oxide” has minimal toxicity and practically does not provoke side effects. But among the shortcomings, it should be noted a little activity, so the drug is combined with other means.

"Thiopental sodium"

The drug is a powder with a subtle smell of sulfur. After intravenous administration, it begins to act in a minute. The effect lasts for 20-30 minutes. Given the route of administration, the doctor is not able to influence the nature of the effect of the drug.

The tool has its drawbacks:

• Small breadth of therapeutic effect.
• It is considered a weak analgesic.
• The drug depresses breathing.
• Weakly relaxes the muscles.
• Laryngospasm is possible.
• After the introduction of the drug, muscles can twitch.

"Thiopental sodium" instructions for use recommends to be administered slowly, since respiratory and vasomotor center suppression is possible, as well as respiratory arrest.

Propofol

This drug refers to short-term drugs, the duration of such anesthesia is only 15 minutes. The advantages include “Propofol” instruction:

• Fast onset of effect.
• The patient quickly leaves anesthesia.

But you need to consider the disadvantages of the tool:

• The drug has a low analgesic activity, therefore, it is often combined with other agents.
• Possible lowering of blood pressure.
• There is a risk of temporary respiratory arrest.
• After exiting anesthesia, the patient experiences nausea, headache, and may be vomiting.
• Thrombosis or phlebitis may develop.

You can not use the remedy for heart failure, serious pathologies of the liver and kidneys.

Sevoran

The drug is a colorless, odorless liquid. In anesthetic practice, the drug is most often used for induction of anesthesia, as well as during surgical interventions that do not require much time.

“Sevoran” is widely used in pediatric anesthesiology, due to the presence of many advantages:

• Not irritating to the respiratory tract.
• Does not affect hemodynamics.
• It is poorly soluble in blood, therefore it is excreted from the body almost unchanged.
• The patient quickly goes into sleep and also quickly leaves it, it is only necessary to stop the flow of the drug.
• You can adjust the flow and save money.
• An anesthetist can control the depth of anesthesia.
• The patient easily leaves anesthesia with minimal negative manifestations.

Anesthesia “Sevoranom” does not always cause consequences, but among them it is possible:

• Increased drowsiness.
• Apathy to everything.
• Dizziness.
• Increased arousal upon exit from anesthesia.
• A sharp decrease in blood pressure.
• Inhibition of the respiratory center.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Itching of the skin.

The manifestation of the negative consequences after anesthesia cannot be predicted. It all depends not only on the skill of the anesthesiologist and the type of anesthesia and drug used, but also on the characteristics of the body, the accompanying chronic pathologies. Therefore, it is impossible to unequivocally answer why anesthesia with the use of one or another drug is dangerous.

Way out of anesthesia

Each organism is individual, therefore, the process of overcoming anesthesia in each takes its own way. The following facts affect the duration of this period:

• The general health of the patient.
• Depth of anesthesia.
• The complexity of surgery.

If the operation was not complicated, the doctor is highly qualified, then the exit from anesthesia takes about 6 hours. With surgery that lasted more than 3 hours, adaptation after anesthesia can take about three days.

Contraindications to anesthesia

You can not use general anesthesia in the presence of the following conditions and pathologies in patients:

• Serious heart disease.
• Infectious pathologies in the acute stage.
• Bronchial asthma.
• Vital functions are depressed.
• There is an allergy to anesthetics.
• The patient is taking drugs.
• There is a mental disorder.
• Immediately after vaccination.
• There are deviations in the hormonal system.

Such pathologies can be in many patients, so the choice of anesthesia is carried out individually.

Useful tips for patients

To as easily as possible endure anesthesia and get out of it without serious consequences, you must adhere to the following recommendations:

1. Accurate and comprehensive information about the effects of anesthesia on the body and the rules for getting out of it can be obtained only from a narrow specialist who will give recommendations based on the individual characteristics of the body.
2. Before surgery using anesthesia, it is better to switch to a meal with light meals in a couple of days.
3. After getting out of anesthesia, drink plenty of fluids for speedy elimination of the drug.
4. A month before the operation, stop drinking alcohol and smoking.
5. Discontinue therapy using drugs that relieve muscle spasm.
6. After anesthesia, with the appearance of trembling in the limbs, you can hide in a warm blanket or blanket.
7. To eliminate headaches, use analgesics.

Modern drugs for anesthesia allow for the most large-scale operations on the internal organs of a person. High qualification of the doctor and careful selection of the type of anesthesia and means will allow the patient to quickly get out of this condition with minimal consequences.