What are the risks of being put under general anesthesia during surgery?

Answer 1

There is a small risks of lung infections, strokes, heart attacks, and possibly death during and after anesthesia. These risks are very small and are more likely in older people and patients who have medical problems or previous history of strokes or heart attacks or are generally considered poor surgical risks.


Because the body lies still during surgery; pressure points may develop. If a part of the body gets too much pressure; this can result in nerve damage; paralysis; blindness; and skin ulcers depending on the position during surgery.


Also because you lie on your back; you might develop infections such as pneumonia or atelectasis ( collapsed lung)


You might suffer allergic reactions to medications used in the operating room. Inspite of the best efforts, these sometimes can be fatal. So it's impt to let the anesthesiologist be aware of ALL your known allergies including latex, tape, iodine-containing substance. A common reaction to anesthesia is nausea, vomiting and confusion. Make sure you tell your anesthesiologist any prior untoward reaction to general anesthesia.


In case of excessive bleeding; the anesthesiologist in close consultationwith the surgeon might have to administer blood transfusions. Thus you might become infected with communciable diseases such as Hepatitis or Aids despite taken precautions.

Your throat might get sore from intubation. . Insertion of airways also may cause an increase in blood pressure (hypertension) and heart rate (tachycardia).

Other complications may include damage to teeth and lips, swelling in the larynx, sore throat, and hoarseness caused by injury or irritation of the larynx. Other serious risks of general anesthesia include changes in blood pressure or heart rate or rhythm, heart attack, or stroke. Death or serious illness or injury due solely to anesthesia is rare and is usually also related to complications from the surgery. Death occurs in about 1 in 250,000 people receiving general anesthesia, although risks are greater for those people with serious medical conditions.

Some people who are going to have general anesthesia express concern that they will not be completely unconscious but will "wake up" and have some awareness during the surgical procedure. But awareness during general anesthesia is very rare because anesthesia specialists devote careful attention and use many methods to prevent this.

Another major concern that you ; like others have is that you might not WAKE up from the anesthesia and would lapse into coma and thus death. With the modern techniques now and the new advent of anesthetic agents used, that is unlikely. So try, not to worry. Express all of your concerns when the anesthesiologist come and see you the night before the surgery.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

Its pretty normal for people to feel sick to their stomachs, have a sore throat, or feel groggy after a surgery.
Not many people have problems with anesthesia but I've heard of rare cases where something went wrong and people could still feel during surgery. This is very rare though. Some people have allergic reactions to the medication, which can be prevented by telling your doctor about any allergies you have. Other serious low risk factors include: heart attack, stroke, brain damage, and death. All rare.

Answer 3

I wonder why did you ask the same question twice. Maybe you got scared. One think is for sure, the benefits are much greater than the risks. If no-one in your family or you have history of allergic reactions or "abnormal" reactions to anesthetics, I would not really worry about.

Good Luck.

Answer 4

In the hands of an anesthesiologist who knows what he is doing, none at all.