Benefits and Complications of General Anaesthesia

General anaesthesia is a method of treatment where in certain medications or anaesthetics are used to put a patient into a deep sleep or get him into a state of unconsciousness to ensure that the he does not feel pain during surgery. During this process, a close monitoring of the functions of the heart, kidney and lungs is crucial. A number of medications will be administered in order to ensure sleep, relaxation of skeletal muscles, amnesia and loss of control of reflexes of the nervous system. Once surgery is complete, the effects of these medications will be reversed and the patient will slowly regain consciousness.

General anaesthesia is used for five main reasons that are imperative for surgery, mainly to cause:
1)    Loss of response to pain
2)    Loss of memory
3)    Loss of motor reflexes
4)    Loss of consciousness
5)    Skeletal muscle relaxation.

General anaesthesia has its risks as well as benefits. Complications related to general anaesthesia include an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic used, temporary mental confusion, vomiting and nausea, nerve damage, lung infection, sore throat, skin ulcers, damage to teeth, lips, throat, tongue or vocal cords, heart attack or stroke, premature consciousness and sometimes even death.

Now let us consider the Benefits. The patient retains no memory of the surgery; it allows for multiple surgeries on different parts of the body simultaneously which is generally not possible with local anaesthesia, enables total control of the functions of the body by the surgeon.

It is best that the patient is well aware of both the risks and benefits of general anaesthesia. It is also imperative that the surgeon assigns a well seasoned anaesthetist to determine whether the procedure is appropriate for the patient and discuss this with the patient prior to the surgery.

Once the procedure is done and the patient has been sent home, the doctor must be contacted immediately if the person experiences any of the following symptoms: fever or chills, worsening mouth or throat pain and difficulty in breathing. These are all signs of post operative complications that could directly be attributed to an allergic reaction to the anaesthesia used.

General anaesthesia is generally safe for people with a healthy constitution but caution is required when administering it to people with the following conditions, as they have a higher risk of problems associated with general anaesthesia:
1.    people who abuse medications or alcohol
2.    people with allergies as well as a family history of being allergic to medicine
3.    people with lung, heart or kidney problems
4.     smokers

Though the risks are apparent, recent advancements in the field of General anaesthesia show that the benefits far outweigh them. Hi-tech electronic devices have enabled anaesthesiologists to carefully monitor the patient throughout the surgery. The device continually displays vital signs and monitors blood pressure, heart function, blood oxygen levels and respiratory patterns. Due to advancements such as these, the use of general anaesthesia has seen a dramatic surge and has made it possible to operate on patients who were here to fore consider too sick or old to undergo surgery.

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