Side effects of anesthesia after surgery. How does general and local anesthesia affect the human body (individual organs)

A. Bogdanov, FRCA

From the complaint (instead of an epigraph): "My father, 73 years old before the operation, was able to live and function quite independently, performing his daily household chores, cooking, cleaning the house, and so on. After surgery for a hip fracture, his condition worsened significantly, he became forgetful, distracted, unable to concentrate on daily tasks. As a result, he is virtually unable to perform daily functions on his own. The family believes that this is the result of anesthesia!"

This complaint made me think - what are the consequences of modern anesthesia for the brain of our patients? We have long automatically assumed that anesthesia is safe (of course, we are not talking about complications - we are talking about completely problem-free anesthesia not with ketamine, but with modern drugs).

It turned out that the topic is not so specific and studied, and the Internet at the level of the layman provides a fairly large number of all kinds of facts and opinions, quite revealingly illustrating the detrimental effect of anesthesia on the brain. True, upon closer examination it turns out that basically the same few cases are being exaggerated, mostly of an everyday presentation (my relative was quite good, but now ...)

This situation interested me and I tried to find information of a more scientific nature on the topic of anesthesia and its interaction / effect on the human brain.

I present the results to your attention.

Article dated G.M. WoerleeAnesthesiacausespersonalitychangesandevendementis" http://www.anesthesiaweb.org/dementia.php. The author is a former anesthesiologist who has now become a popularizer of some controversial issues in anesthesia practice. Nevertheless, his article on this topic is of undoubted interest, since in a very simplified form it systematizes the issues of postoperative cognitive impairment (PostOperative Cognitive Disorder - POCD) and the available simple data on this topic.

Typical complaints of a sufferer of this condition are:

• easy fatigue
• Inability to concentrate. For example, such patients find it difficult to read a book or newspaper.
• Memory impairment, especially for recent events
• Reduced arithmetic ability

Summarizing the currently available rather insignificant and largely descriptive facts regarding POCD, we can say the following:

• POCD is equally likely to occur both after surgery under anesthesia and under local (regional) anesthesia
• More common after major than after minor surgeries
• Most often - after cardiac surgery (AIK?)
• The occurrence of POCD is more likely in older patients taking high doses of alcohol.
• The higher the ASA, the more likely the occurrence of POCD
• The lower the general education level, the higher the likelihood of POCD
• A previous stroke (even if fully recovered) increases the likelihood of POCD
• The likelihood of POCD is increased even in the very early stages of Alzheimer's disease (before the onset of clinical signs of it)
• Postoperative delirium and POCD are more likely in patients with a history of delirium after previous surgery.

The reasons for the emergence of POCD (at a general cognitive level) include:

• Residual effect of anesthesia drugs
• Metabolic effect of the operation
• Already existing anomalous GM function
• Hyperventilation causing dysfunction of the prefrontal zones of the GM
• Post-traumatic distress syndrome

M. Wang et all "Adverce effects of inhalational anaesthetics on the developing brain"

MedicalGasResearch, 2014, 4:2

A good and sober overview of the effects of volatile anesthetics on the developing brain.

The authors cite numerous references to works indicating that even a single exposure to a combination of commonly used drugs such as midazolam - nitrous oxide - isoflurane is accompanied by neuroapoptosis of developing brain cells, especially during synaptogenesis. The work was done on animals, however, in 2007 the FDA organized a meeting to discuss the question: is there a need to change the practice of pediatric anesthesia?

Two large studies are currently underway - the Pediatric Anesthesia NeuroDevelopment Assessment, which looks at the effect of a single anesthetic before the age of three years on tearing in a control group without it; and the second GAS study comparing anesthesia and spinal anesthesia for neonatal hernia repair. Due to the specifics of this kind of research, significant results can only be expected in a few years.

Nevertheless, there are a large number of works considering the effect of individual volatile anesthetics and their combinations on the developing brain of animals.

So far, there have been very few observational studies in humans, and importantly, the results are very difficult to interpret, as they often contradict each other.

However, the fact of the influence of anesthetics (Anesthesia-induced developmental neurotoxicity or AIDN) is currently beyond doubt, at least only at the level of experimental studies.

There are a number of online publications that are more of an educational nature, but nevertheless of interest in this topic.

K. Kreeger from the University of Pennsylvania on the site of this university posted the results and comments on the work of a group led by R. Eckenhoff et al, who considered the effect of anesthesia and, importantly, surgery as such, on the functioning of the brain in experimental animals with the genome of Alzheimer's disease. In fact, the topic of the work can be extrapolated as a study of the effect of anesthesia and surgical trauma on the manifestation of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease in mice genetically prone to this disease. The need for this kind of research was dictated by the fact that earlier studies have shown the connection of anesthesia with the worsening-exacerbation of this disease. The cause of this kind of deterioration was named inflammatory changes in the GM of patients, however, the cause of such changes can be both anesthesia and the operation itself. The results of this work (with known limitations) allow us to state that anesthesia in itself is not the trigger that causes inflammatory changes in the GM of experimental animals.

A.E. Hudson et al ("Are anaesthetics toxic to the brain?" BJA 2011; 107(1):30-37) wondered if the anesthetics used are toxic to the brain? The authors considered the mechanisms of action of various kinds of anesthetics on GM receptors. I found the following discussion interesting.

The effect of anesthesia on the developing brain

At least under some individual conditions, the facts of inducing apoptosis of neonatal GM neurons by anesthetics have been noted. It has been suggested that the state of anesthesia is accompanied by the suppression of spontaneous neuronal activity, which may lead to a decrease in the secretion of neurotrophic factors in the developing GM. If this kind of suppression of activity is observed during critical periods of GM development, then these pharmacologically "disabled" neurons can be "unnecessarily" eliminated by the body through the development of apoptosis.

However, experiments in rats suggest that apoptosis may be due to neurotoxicity rather than the absence of trophic factors.

For the appearance of neurotoxic effects at the GM level, anesthetic exposure should occur during critical periods of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis. In other words, when the formation and expansion of neural "local networks" takes place.

Unfortunately, the currently available data from both experimental and observational (in humans) studies suffer from the inconsistency of the data obtained, and often the inability to extrapolate the data of one group to others.

Aging brain and anesthesia

Elderly patients are more likely to develop POCD in the postoperative period. Although short-term cognitive impairment has been attributed to numerous comorbidities in older age, older age has been cited as the most important risk factor for developing POCD.

With age, the rate of neurogenesis and synaptogenesis decreases, a decrease in the total number of neurons is noted, and a significant amount of biological intermediate metabolites potentially accumulates. All this leads to a gradual decrease in the physiological reserve of the brain, an increase in its sensitivity to various damaging effects. Currently, theories of calcium homeostasis disturbance, systemic inflammatory response in response to surgical trauma, age-dependent suppression of neuro-stem cell function, and acceleration of neurodegeneration processes are being considered.

Alzheimer's disease is a chronic atrophic process of the GM cortex, deposition of characteristic plaques of amyloid-β-peptide and accumulation of neurofibrillary knots composed of hyperphosphorylated tau protein.

Experimental work has shown that various kinds of anesthetics (and hypoxia) cause neuronal apoptosis and the accumulation of amyloid-β-peptide.

However, the controversy continues. Recent data (Avidan et al 2009 BJA) suggest that the incidence and clinical significance of POCD may have been seriously exaggerated.

V. Bonhommeetal("Influenceofanesthesiaoncerebralbloodflow, cerebralmetabolicrateandbrainfunctionconnectivity"CurrentOpinioninanaesthesiology 2011, 24: 474-79 ) in their work consider the effect of anesthesia on cerebral blood flow, the metabolic activity of GM, and - it seems to me, the most interesting - the functional interconnection of brain regions. We are talking about a hypothetical mechanism for the development of the state of anesthesia and loss of consciousness. First of all, we are talking about the thalamus, which is believed to play the role of a kind of switch-distributor for information coming from below and then displayed (in the form of a state of consciousness) in the GM cortex. With an increase in the concentration of the anesthetic, there is a decrease in the level of activity of the functional relationship between the thalamus and the cortex, while the relationship of the lower parts of the GM with the thalamus remains, although in an altered form. This is accompanied by the inability of the GM to generate and integrate information while sensory information is still being processed at a lower level of complexity.

L. Sun("Earlychildhoodgeneralanesthesiaexposureandneurocognitivedevelopment"B.J.A.105 (51) ;i61-i68 (2010) published an article on the topic "The effect of anesthesia on the neurocognitive development of children." The article is a kind of prequel to a large study conducted by the author - PANDA (pediatric anaesthesia and neurodevelopment assessment). The results of the work will have to wait quite a long time due to the specifics of the subject being studied. In the meantime, the authors of the study have published a small but rather serious review of the available facts and theories on the topic.

There is nothing new yet, as expected, but the clinical data presented on the topic are interesting. Let me remind you that basically the problem is still being studied at the experimental level, which is understandable.

There was no difference in the neurocognitive development of children born by caesarean section under anesthesia, with the use of spinal anesthesia or spontaneous vaginal delivery without any anesthesia.

Children under the age of 4 who have had multiple anesthesias show a higher incidence of learning problems (math, reading, and so on). Several anesthesias at an early age - are learning problems related to health problems?

Children who underwent herniotomy under anesthesia in the first three years of life were compared with children who did not have herniotomy (apparently, there was no hernia?). In the first group, the frequency of development of learning problems was higher compared to the control. The question is whether innate factors play a role?

Behavioral issues in children under one year of age who underwent surgery in the first few years for urological problems. In the group that underwent surgery (under anesthesia), there was a higher risk of problem behavior. Again the question is the effect of anesthesia? Disease impact? Environment and upbringing?

A study from the Netherlands on monozygotic twins showed that, on the one hand, twins who were anesthetized in the first three years of life tended to have lower academic performance. However, no difference was found between twins at later ages.

The authors of the work honestly declare that not a single study in clinical practice allows us to draw definitive or weighty conclusions, and each study is subject to criticism. So let's wait for the results of the study of the authors themselves. In the meantime, documents have been published in both the US and England stating that there is no reason to change the current policy in the approach to pediatric anesthesia and surgery.

S. Chiaoetal("Adouble-edgesword- volatileanestheticseffectonaneonatalbrainBrainsci 2014, 4, 273-294 published extensive work on the effect of volatile anesthetics on GM in the neonatal period. The work is great and interesting. Here are the sections that interest me the most.

Issues of GM development: the rapid development and maturation of the CNS in humans begins in the intrauterine period and continues in the first two or three years of life. During this period, the GM is especially sensitive to all sorts of stimuli - environmental factors, pharmaceuticals, hypoxia, hypoglycemia, and possibly anesthesia. In the process of maturation, neurons establish contacts with each other and form complex neural networks. Life begins with an excess of neurons, the excess of which is removed by apoptosis (programmed cell death). This process is influenced by two mechanisms - internal (mitochondrial) and external (activation of death receptors).

Apparently, to add even more confusion to the issue under study, the authors consider the issues of neuroprotection of volatile anesthetics (if anyone remembers such studies).

It has been recognized for several decades that volatile anesthetics may have neuroprotective properties in cerebral ischemia. Moreover, this action is realized when an anesthetic is used before, during and after the ischemic factor. However, it should be noted that the above data were obtained mainly on adult experimental animals. Data on the child population are currently not available.

As for neurotoxicity, the situation is even more complicated. At present, there are convincing data obtained on newborn animals that long-term (up to 6 hours) exposure to 0.6 MAC of almost all modern volatile anesthetics has led to significant and similar neurodegeneration of the superficial neocortex. Similar data have been obtained by several researchers.

In terms of clinical data, data on the neurotoxicity of anesthetics in humans is very, very poorly confirmed and studied. There are indications that multiple anesthetics at a very early age may be accompanied by learning disabilities. The authors cite works that have already been discussed earlier and agree on one thing - the data are extremely contradictory, difficult to interpret, and do not yet allow drawing conclusions.

So what have we come to?

It seems that for a physiologically mature person, anesthesia does not have any significant effect on the GM. In any case, no long-term effects have been described and there is no indication of the danger of such an effect.

The situation is more complicated at very young and old ages.

It turns out that early and frequent use of anesthesia at an early age may (or may not - the answer to this question is somewhat fuzzy and unclear) is accompanied by a decrease in learning abilities. However, the question remains open - at what time does this critical sensitivity of the GM to the anesthetic occur? Moreover, one gets the impression that numerous factors that can influence the development of the child are not taken into account - general health, issues of the social and family environment, and so on.

Even if such an effect takes place, it seems to me that it is more of a neurophysiological than a toxic nature. Namely, in the period of synaptogenesis (and this is the learning process), under the influence of anesthesia (and not a specific anesthetic) there is a violation or inhibition of the formation of synaptic neural networks, which in turn gives the body a command to "turn off" the neurons not involved in this process and, accordingly - "unnecessary") This shutdown occurs not by necrosis, but by apoptosis - programmed cell death.

Even if all this is true, there are a huge number of questions that have not yet been answered. Namely, the fact is known that the number of neurons in a child, so to speak, is abundant and functionally the disappearance of a relatively small number of them should not have any serious effect on the development of the child. That is, it is not so much apoptosis of cells that is important, but a violation of their communication - neural networks. However, is it possible to influence the rapid development of new networks? Who and how?

In other words, even if the original postulate is really present in clinical practice (which there are many doubts), there are a lot of unanswered questions. Let's wait for the results of the above studies (GAS, PANDA) and maybe they will shed a little more light on the problem.

In the elderly, the situation with the GM is more definite - the existing age-related involutional changes in the GM tissue are well documented. This is especially clear in patients with Alzheimer's disease. As I understand it, in this group of patients there are already well-established neuron networks, but the age-related decrease in the number of neurons comes into play, which in turn forces the brain to redistribute the functional load on the still existing neurons. To a certain level, this compensatory mechanism works and the patient functions quite normally. However, in case of a sudden illness requiring surgical intervention and anesthesia, such subcompensation is insufficient and there are disturbances in the functioning of the GM. Moreover, it is not clear what plays the leading role - anesthesia or the surgical injury itself, followed by an inflammatory reaction.

Speech all this time was about anesthesia with the use of volatile anesthetics of various kinds, but not ketamine. It seems to me that ketamine in the above situations can have a much more pronounced effect on neural networks.

I deliberately excluded from the discussion all issues related to the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of the action of anesthetics on GM. First, so as not to complicate the picture even more. Secondly, there are much more discrepancies and difficulties in this area than we would like.

PS. The operation on a real patient from a real complaint given in the epigraph was performed under spinal anesthesia...

Patients are more afraid of anesthesia than of the operation itself, this is a fact. I created this project to dispel fears, doubts and myths about anesthesia. Let me introduce myself, my name is Danilov Sergey Evgenievich, I am a practicing doctor of the highest category, an anesthesiologist-resuscitator. On the pages of this site I will talk about everything related to my profession, and you can ask questions.

So let's start with the basics. Let's understand two concepts: what is anesthesia (it is often called "general anesthesia") and what is anesthesia (it is mistakenly called "local anesthesia").

What is anesthesia and why is it "general"?

Anesthesia is a state of drug-induced sleep, in which reversible inhibition of the central nervous system occurs, it is achieved through the gradual use of a whole range of medications.

Often this condition is often called, but there is no point in specifying, because. anesthesia is always general (i.e. the person is asleep). If a person is conscious, then we are talking about anesthesia.

How does it work?

Anesthesia is done in stages, it all starts with. And then anesthesia acts in this way: a person loses consciousness, loss of sensitivity (pain relief), relaxation of skeletal muscles, in addition to this, respiratory depression occurs, and, in some cases, cardiac depression.

All this happens under the control of an anesthesiologist and a large number of monitoring equipment. Special devices monitor breathing, the work of the heart, and, in long-term operations, also the work of the kidneys. In addition, the anesthesiologist is always ready for any "extraordinary" situations. That is why anesthesia can be performed ONLY in an operating room and ONLY by an anesthesiologist.

Who invented?

Who invented anesthesia? On October 16, 1846, William Thomas Green Morton in a clinic in Boston demonstrated the first effect of ether anesthesia. On this day, it is customary to celebrate a professional holiday -

What happens?

The most common answer to this question is “general and local”, but no, friends, as I already wrote, local anesthesia cannot be. Therefore, I bring to your attention the correct classification of anesthesia (we will not go into much detail, because the main audience of our project are people without a medical education, to whom I want to tell the basics of this branch of medicine).

So, anesthesia can be carried out with one drug - mononarcosis, or a combination of several drugs - combined multicomponent anesthesia.

Also, according to the method of administration of drugs, one can distinguish:

• (Intubation);

What is anesthesia and why is it not the same as anesthesia?

With anesthesia (local anesthesia), no shutdown of consciousness and breathing, anesthesia acts on a limited area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe face, body. It can be performed without the participation of an anesthesiologist (except for epidural and spinal).

There are many types of anesthesia, the most common are:

Anesthesia can be performed by a surgeon or dentist without the participation of an anesthesiologist, this is absolutely normal.

Why do people die on the operating table?

On the Internet and on TV, you can find a lot of scary stories that scare even calm, adequate patients. Of course, the operation is stressful, but the situation is even more aggravated when the patient has read on the Internet such that in a conversation before the operation I see a frightened person who is almost sure that he will die today.

Why is this happening? Yes, because all these low-quality articles and video reports are prepared by journalists who have nothing to do with medicine. The sensation is important to them and the more terrible, the better. And then people tell it to each other, discuss it on a bench, without understanding the essence of the issue. Very often this is presented precisely as “death from anesthesia”.

What's in reality? Yes, death on the operating table, alas, happens, BUT! Die just from drugs at the current level of development of medicine is almost impossible! Death can occur, due to the severity of the disease itself, tk. The initial condition of the patient was extremely difficult.

The anesthesia itself does not carry a great danger, rather, on the contrary, it is anesthesia that allows the safest possible surgical intervention. It allows the patient not to feel pain, not to feel stress, and the surgeon gives the opportunity to calmly and efficiently carry out the necessary manipulations. I wrote more about mortality during anesthesia in my other article.

But how - you ask? Yes, the medical literature describes the case of the development of rapid allergic reactions to certain drugs of anesthesia / anesthesia with a fatal outcome, but the frequency of such cases is negligible.

The anesthesiologist is ready even for such cases, and if the allergy is known in advance, then appropriate preparation will be carried out.

When talking with the anesthetist, be sure to tell us about all the possible allergic reactions, diseases that you suffered even in childhood. Don't hide anything!

Each patient must understand that any intervention, even vaccination, is always small, but the risk. And, for example, anesthesia is a complex of complex medical manipulations, but the anesthesiologist is ready to competently carry it out even in the presence of any concomitant diseases that complicate his work.

Is anesthesia harmful to humans?

This question is also very often asked to me, they tell terrible stories about memory loss, hallucinations and even hair loss ... Narcosis itself now does not cause any harm to the body. Yes, the drugs that we use in our work are deadly, but in capable hands they do not have a significant effect on the body, anesthesia can be repeated as many times as necessary.

It is better to think about what harm the disease will cause you, about which you need to manipulate. There is no need to be afraid of drugs.

Hallucinations today are also very rare. Glitches and the well-known “light at the end of the tunnel” are more fiction. Most patients say that they just slept, felt light, someone sees dreams.

After all, we, anesthesiologists, have a very difficult task - we observe the patient before, during, and always after the operation. If suddenly, after the operation, we see that a person’s vital functions have not recovered enough, then we transfer him to the intensive care unit and observe there until he is fully restored.

Each person who is going to have any surgical intervention thinks about what complications of anesthesia can arise, and why anesthesia is dangerous. Before my eyes appear terrible pictures of memory loss, headaches for the rest of my life. Is general anesthesia really so dangerous, how does it affect the body, and how often do complications occur? According to anesthesiologists, general anesthesia is not the most harmless thing, and the reaction of each organism is individual, but with the right selection of drugs, careful monitoring of the patient during anesthesia, the likelihood of negative consequences is significantly reduced.

Inhalation anesthesia

The following reactions of the body can be attributed to the often occurring consequences after general anesthesia:

Nausea

It is the most common consequence after general anesthesia. With local anesthesia, this unpleasant sensation develops much less frequently. The patient can reduce the likelihood of nausea by:

• A few hours after the operation, you should not actively move, doctors recommend lying down and not getting out of bed.
• It is not recommended to eat and drink water.
• If there is pain after surgery, you need to take care of adequate pain relief, as severe pain can cause nausea.
• When vomiting is felt, the patient should breathe slowly and deeply.

Dizziness

Dizziness after general anesthesia

Preparations for general anesthesia very often affect blood pressure and remove water from the human body, due to this, consequences in the form of dizziness are possible.

Headache

There are many reasons for the manifestation of a headache after exiting drug sleep: these can be side effects of drugs used for anesthesia, dehydration of the body, or stress. When performing spinal or epidural anesthesia, headache often debilitates the patient for several days after surgery. To prevent headache after spinal or epidural anesthesia, you should lie down as long as possible and keep your head down.

Sore throat

Sore throat after intubation

Most often, sore throat is caused by intubation. During anesthesia, a tube is placed through the larynx into the trachea through which artificial ventilation of the lungs occurs. After removing this tube, a feeling of tickling or a foreign body in the larynx is possible. This unpleasant consequence passes on its own in a few days.

Confusion

Very often, after waking up, the patient may experience a decrease in concentration and blurred awareness. Most often, such consequences accompany an elderly person, in most cases this symptom disappears on its own within a week and does not affect the body and the quality of later life.

Rare effects of general anesthesia

In very rare cases, a serious consequence of general anesthesia can be damage to the sensitivity of certain areas of the human body. Most often, this can be the result of a mistake by the surgeon. The patient feels numbness of any area on his body, sometimes accompanied by tingling. Similar effects of general anesthesia may disappear on their own within a few weeks or months, and may persist for several years.

Consequences of spinal and epidural anesthesia

When performing spinal or epidural anesthesia, in rare cases, trauma to the roots of the spinal cord occurs. Such an injury can be caused by the careless actions of surgeons, the wrong position of a person on the operating table, which leads to compression of the nerve trunk. Postoperative edema can compress the nerve, and due to this, a violation of sensitivity develops in the area for which the damaged nerve root is responsible.

Memory impairment after anesthesia

A common consequence of general anesthesia is a decrease in concentration and memory, patients often note the negative effect of anesthesia on the ability to learn. All these symptoms can be called one term - cognitive dysfunction. Patients are very worried about how long they will experience such unpleasant symptoms, and whether they will remain for the rest of their lives. The conducted studies show that memory disorders after anesthesia occur in 30-80% of patients, a week after the operation, memory disorders persisted in 25% of patients, after three months - in 10% of those operated on. Memory impairment does not depend on what type of anesthesia was used during the surgical intervention, but scientists tend to believe that it is general anesthesia that causes a greater percentage of the consequences. The mechanism for the development of this failure, according to one theory, is a drop in pressure in the blood vessels, as a result of which the supply of oxygen to the brain decreases. Scientists have not yet found out the exact cause of this complication, but the predisposing factors have been precisely established: the elderly age of a person, repeated anesthesia, a long-term operation, the development of inflammatory complications after surgery, a weak body.

Memory loss after anesthesia

Despite the list of possible consequences and stories about the dangers of anesthesia, general anesthesia has positive aspects. Most surgical interventions would be impossible without the use of anesthesia - the patient is waiting for death on the operating table from pain shock. Therefore, such an important question about the advisability of general anesthesia must be addressed with a doctor who knows all the intricacies of each type of anesthesia.

The consequences of general anesthesia for the human body can be very different. Most often, postoperative troubles of this type are caused by medical errors, but sometimes they are physiologically determined by the characteristics of the body. The analysis of fixed complications makes it possible to assess the risk of anesthetic exposure. True, it should be noted that there are cases when one has to choose the lesser evil, but in such situations one must be ready to take adequate measures.

How is the procedure carried out

At its core, general anesthesia is a blocking of pain receptors, when the cerebral cortical centers are temporarily inhibited by the drug method. A person is artificially immersed in an insensible state, similar to a narcotic dream of different depths. This goal is achieved by the introduction of combined preparations based on neuroleptics, anesthetics and analgesics.

General anesthesia (general anesthesia) can be provided by several methods:

Why Problems Occur

The drugs used for general anesthesia have a strong direct effect on the human central nervous system, the brain, and can also affect the functioning of the digestive, excretory, cardiovascular, muscular and respiratory systems. The introduction of such substances into the human body is a necessary, recognized risk. Without them, a surgical operation is impossible due to a real pain shock.

The anesthesiologist is well aware of the degree of risk, and therefore takes into account such parameters as the individual sensitivity of the body (especially the tendency to sensitization), the presence of various side pathologies, the patient's age, the state of his nervous system and other factors.

It is especially dangerous to conduct anesthesia in a child, the elderly, pregnant women. The choice of anesthetic and its dose are exclusively individual in nature, and are prescribed after the necessary examinations. The effect of anesthesia should be carefully monitored at all stages: from introduction into the body to complete recovery after surgery.

In general, the effect of anesthesia on the human body is conditionally classified into several categories:

1. A natural physiological reaction that occurs almost always, but, as a rule, passes by itself, and the task of resuscitation is to help the body.
2. Complications after anesthesia, which sometimes appear after the termination of anesthesia and are purely individual in nature.
3. Severe complications that occur rarely, but are caused by systemic disorders.

What happens to a person during anesthesia

But is anesthesia harmful to the body? The impact of general anesthesia on the human body is very often accompanied by such side effects that occur after the patient is removed from an insensible state:

Harm of anesthesia for the body

General anesthesia can also cause some specific problems that are not very common, but require a special approach:

Negative effects of anesthesia

Extremely rare, but still there are cases of severe consequences of general anesthesia after surgery. Such circumstances arise with a special individual sensitivity or an overdose of anesthesia. The following complications may be noted:

Consequences after anesthesia in children

The effect of anesthesia on the child's body should be under special control. Naturally, children, like adults, sometimes need surgical intervention, and it is impossible to carry it out without general anesthesia. The problem is that the negative effect of the anesthetic on the child is more serious. Numerous studies indicate a high risk of developing cognitive disorders.

In this case, the child may develop such complications: impaired concentration, memory, mental retardation, loss of the ability to perceive learning. A number of anesthetics are believed to cause attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; operations under the age of three are especially dangerous.

General anesthesia is a prerequisite for surgical treatment. With proper consideration of the individual characteristics of human health, its influence is limited to the natural reaction of the body, which disappears a few days after the operation. If serious complications occur, then adequate measures must be taken.

Which of the anesthetics will be chosen for anesthesia depends on the type of surgical intervention, the stage of the disease, and the experience of the anesthesiologist. Despite the numerous benefits, the consequences of anesthesia after surgery can be quite serious (in most cases, it is impossible to predict in advance which anesthetic will be best). Therefore, before conducting surgery, the patient is carefully examined for contraindications.

Advice: The success of the operation largely depends on the qualifications of the surgeon and anesthesiologist. Therefore, find out in advance which of the doctors in your hospital are considered the best.

Side effects

General anesthesia often causes side effects such as:

• nausea;
• confusion;
• dizziness;
• headache;
• shiver;
• sore throat;
• back pain;
• muscle pain.

In a third of all cases, general anesthesia provokes nausea. Therefore, after the operation, a person should not get out of bed for some time, drink water or food.

General anesthesia causes confusion most often in the elderly. This is manifested by memory impairment and behavior that is different from the usual. Usually this side effect disappears as the body recovers.

Such a side effect of general anesthesia as dizziness appears due to a decrease in blood pressure. This same side effect can be caused by dehydration.

Trembling is a side effect of general anesthesia, which causes severe discomfort in a person. Moreover, such a complication is not dangerous for the body. This side effect lasts only 20-30 minutes.

Itching is a side reaction of the body to anesthetics such as morphine. But itching can be a manifestation of an allergic reaction to medicinal substances, so it is best to immediately inform your doctor about its appearance.

Sore throat is a consequence that can disappear both within a few hours after the operation, and disturb a person for several days. It can be mild, causing discomfort, or it can be severe and disturb when swallowing or during a conversation.

Back pain may occur due to the fact that a person during the operation for a long time was in the same position. Complications of general anesthesia, such as muscle pain, often appear in young men. They are localized in the shoulders, neck, upper abdomen and can last for 2-3 days.

Which of the listed side effects will appear after surgery is not known in advance. It is best if the anesthesiologist tells the patient in advance about the most likely side effects and how to minimize their occurrence.

Complications of general anesthesia

General anesthesia can cause the following serious complications:

• lung infection;
• trauma to the lips, tongue and teeth;
• nerve damage;
• anaphylaxis (allergic reaction);
• eye damage;
• brain damage;
• death.

Advice: if the likelihood of severe complications is too high, the operation should be abandoned.

A lung infection is a serious consequence of general anesthesia. Smokers, in order to reduce the likelihood of its occurrence, it would be better to give up this bad habit 6 weeks before the operation.

Injury to the lips, tongue or teeth in children and adults is a rare consequence of general anesthesia. It can occur when a tube is inserted into the trachea (endotracheal anesthesia). To reduce the risk of its occurrence, it is best to visit the dentist before the operation and eliminate any existing problems with the teeth or gums.

Nerve damage is manifested by the appearance of a feeling of numbness, pain or tingling, paralysis. It can appear on a small area of ​​the body or on a large area of ​​​​its body (which area may be affected is difficult to say in advance) and can drag on for up to a year.

Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic reaction to drugs. According to statistics, 5% of cases of anaphylaxis are fatal, despite the fact that doctors do everything possible to save the patient.

The use of anesthetics can cause damage to the cornea. This complication arises due to the fact that during general anesthesia the eyelids do not completely close. As a result, the cornea dries up, the eyelid sticks to it, and when the eye is opened, damage appears on the cornea.

Brain damage is a complication that affects older people. Brain damage occurs as a result of a stroke provoked by anesthetics against the background of a general poor state of the body. The likelihood of such a complication increases with surgery on the neck, heart or brain.

A rather unpleasant complication of general anesthesia is the return of consciousness to the patient during the operation. As a result, some episodes of surgical intervention remain in his memory, which can cause psychological trauma.

Contraindications to anesthesia in adults and children

Before doing anesthesia, the patient is carefully examined for contraindications to it. These include:

• respiratory diseases (in the acute stage);
• infectious diseases (in the acute stage);
• the presence of purulent rashes on the skin;
• neurological diseases (severe stages);
• mental illness (any stage);
• myocardial infarction (after which less than six months have passed);
• heart failure (severe stage);
• bronchial asthma (acute stage);
• bronchitis (acute stage).

Narcosis in epilepsy (the most common neurological disease) has some features. A serious complication of intravenous or any other type of anesthesia is the development of seizures (the probability of occurrence is 2%). It is impossible to determine which drug is better, since convulsions can occur regardless of the drug.

Any type of anesthesia during pregnancy (total intravenous anesthesia, anesthesia through a mask or local anesthesia) is done only if something threatens the life of the mother or child. At the same time, it was found that if anesthesia was performed during pregnancy, then the likelihood of developing pathologies in the fetus for this reason is comparable to the likelihood of developing such pathologies in pregnant women who were not exposed to anesthetics.

In children, for anesthesia, which completely turns off consciousness, contraindications are:

• hyperthermia of unknown origin;
• rickets (sharply expressed);
• condition after vaccination (in this case, children are not recommended to be anesthetized for 10-14 days)

It is worth noting that the presence of all types of contraindications in children and adults is neglected if the operation must be performed for emergency indications or with the progression of oncological disease, when it comes to saving the patient's life.

General anesthesia allows painless surgery. Which anesthetic is best to use, which one will be easily tolerated by the patient, and which one will cause severe complications, is difficult to predict in advance.

Attention! The information on the site is presented by specialists, but is for informational purposes only and cannot be used for self-treatment. Be sure to consult a doctor!