What harm does general anesthesia do to the body

We all know that doctors have to give patients anesthesia before performing surgery. However, if the patient loses consciousness of pain after general anesthesia, many people will ask; does general anesthesia cause harm to the body and will there be any sequelae? This has always been a concern of patients and their families about general anesthesia. Let’s take a look at the side effects of general anesthesia surgery.

Most surgical diseases require surgical treatment, and surgery cannot be separated from anesthesia. Anesthesia methods can generally be divided into general anesthesia and regional anesthesia. General anesthesia has the advantages of complete analgesia, loss of consciousness which facilitates the elimination of the patient's fear and tension, muscle relaxation which facilitates surgery, few adverse complications after anesthesia, and easy emergency treatment in the event of an accident. Anesthesiologists have a certain level of theoretical knowledge and clinical experience, and are equipped with corresponding instruments and equipment. General anesthesia is a safe, reliable, and popular anesthesia method among surgeons and the injured. Therefore, in developed Western countries, general anesthesia accounts for more than 90% of all anesthesia methods. Special operations such as craniotomy, thoracotomy, and heart surgery must be performed under general anesthesia to better ensure the safety of the injured and patients.

In our country, due to limited objective conditions, regional anesthesia still occupies a dominant position. In recent years, the anesthesia level of large and medium-sized hospitals in my country has improved rapidly, and the general anesthesia rate has gradually increased. There is more or less misunderstanding in the minds of ordinary people that general anesthesia is harmful to the brain and affects memory.

Anesthesiology has a history of more than 100 years. Especially in the past two or three decades, many safe and reliable anesthetics have been introduced, providing anesthesiologists with more choices. Most of the general anesthetics used today do not participate in human metabolism after entering the human body and are excreted from the body in their original form. They have little effect on the functions of various organs in the human body. So far, no anesthetics have been found to be harmful to the human brain. A very small number of people may experience short-term, reversible psychiatric symptoms after taking certain intravenous anesthetics, but they will soon resolve on their own. The more common temporary side effects of anesthesia are:

– Nausea and vomiting

– Drowsiness

– Temporary inability to urinate

– Sore throat

- Headache

Other less serious complications include muscle pain, injury to teeth, lips, and tongue caused by dentures, temporary difficulty breathing, difficulty speaking, and nerve damage.

Serious complications such as heart attack, stroke, severe allergic reaction, brain/lung damage, kidney/liver failure, permanent nerve damage, eye injury, larynx damage and pneumonia are rare.

Serious side effects and complications are very rare, however, any surgery or anesthesia carries risks. The risks of anesthesia vary depending on your pre-operative health condition, the severity of the surgery, and the method of anesthesia. Because each patient has different specific risks, you should consult with your surgeon or anesthesiologist so that they can take adequate precautions to ensure that your surgery goes smoothly, considering the various risks you will face.

After understanding the side effects of general anesthesia, we also clearly know that everything is multifaceted, and there are pros and cons. In fact, general anesthesia and local anesthesia cause the same harm to the body, but after all, everyone's physique and blood type are different, and the side effects will only occur in a small number of people, so don't have too many concerns when symptoms require surgery.