The Dangers Of Anesthesia

Abstract

During surgery, patients are given anesthesia for several purposes: They cause amnesia, pain relief, muscle paralysis, and sedation. With about 234 million surgeries performed worldwide each year, we learn the magic behind it all used to help patients get through each surgery, or so we hope. With the research going on, we have learned that in many different parts of the world there are different percentages of anesthetic related-events ranging from 1 out of 1,000 early emergences, the awakening during surgery, to 1 out of 19,000. These patients that have experienced anesthesia awareness have been found to have long-term psychological effects. Although about 75 percent of these patients are awake no more than five minutes, that short

I was screaming, but no one could hear me. I felt no pain, just a tugging sensation. I tried to move my toes or even push myself off the operating table, but I couldn't move. I thought I was dying," like Carol Weihrer’s did, is a strong factor on why these anesthesia related-events need to come to an end. according to an ASA report, lack of knowledge about anesthesia and the fear of it leads to 1 in 4 patients to put off surgery. Letting patients know how truly safe anesthesia is will help them, as well as the surgical crew throughout the surgery.

Methods

To improve and increase efficiency in the Anesthesia Department, there has been multiple changes worldwide in the last two decades. This is all because today, anesthesiologists use different drugs to achieve sedation, unconsciousness, pain prevention and amnesia. They also carefully control them to meet each patient's needs, which increases the safety. The dosage is dependent on age, sex, weight and the health of the patient. If not given the right amount, too little or too much, it can cause serious problems in the patient’s surgery, recovery, and health. In some cases, a drug will paralyze the patient to prevent them from moving during surgery because even