What it feels like to have general anesthesia

The use of general anesthesia consists of inducing deep sleep in a person with the use of certain medications so that they do not feel pain during the surgical intervention and that, thanks to this, you will not be aware while they are being operated on.

Once you get to the consultation, the specialist will probably tell you to take a very short-lived anxiolytic , which is a painkiller, so that you are calm and relaxed before the procedure begins.

The intervention is performed by a professional in the area known as an anesthesiologist who will administer the medication intravenously and place a mask with a specialized gas on the patient .

In some cases, when you have already fallen asleep, the professional must insert a tube through your windpipe with the intention of helping you breathe and also protect your lungs. This is known as intubation and, although this can produce some fear, the reality is that it is not a traumatic process, since when it is done the patient is in a hypnotic state in which nothing is felt. You will be monitored at all times and your vital signs, so that there is no alteration or complication.

At the beginning of the procedure you will feel a slight degree of sedation, due to the pain reliever. Once the medications are administered, you will feel a much deeper degree of sedation than you presented at the beginning and that as the medication begins to exert its effect, you will lose consciousness . Even if you are unconscious, you can still feel the pain, so the anesthesiologist will have to use more anesthesia and even the use of an analgesic, to suppress this sensation and that the procedure is not painful.

You will probably begin to feel a muscle relaxation and it is completely normal, and that because of this relaxation your airways are inhibited. In this case, the specialist must protect them, for this you will be intubated and you will receive the adequate amount of oxygen. When the surgery has advanced, the first drugs administered begin to lose effect. For this, the professional will need to apply more anesthetics to continue with the surgery . It could be applied intravenously or through a specialized gas.

The amount of anesthesia will depend on the intervention to be performed. When the procedure is about to finish, the professional will begin to reduce the administration of the anesthetic and, in the event of excessive muscle relaxation, will have to administer other medications that act against this problem. In addition, an analgesic should be placed, so that when the patient wakes up they do not feel pain .

As the drugs that were inhaled are eliminated from the bloodstream, the patient will begin to regain consciousness and, likewise, will begin to breathe on their own, without the help of a machine. Likewise, the patient will not remember anything of what happened, because he was in a degree of deep consciousness and once the effect ends, he will feel pain .. This is why he will be indicated in a series of medications to suppress it. .

In summary mode, it can be stated that a patient who enters a state of deep sedation, that is, who undergoes a procedure with general anesthesia, will not feel or remember anything that happened , due to the administration of the medications used. to carry out said intervention.

It is very rare for a healthy patient to have complications during this procedure, as it is only intended so that the patient does not feel pain. However, it has been shown that in patients with health problems who undergo surgical interventions there may be complications. This is due to the same pre-existing condition, for example:

• A person with heart problems.
• People with respiratory problems.
• Patients in advanced ages.

Although they are a minority, there are cases in which complications of the surgery occur, such as injury, bleeding or failure of the most vital organs.

This is why general anesthesia is considered safe in the vast majority of cases and that the complications that may exist are not due to it but to other conditions, such as serious diseases or surgeries considered high risk.

However, this does not mean that general anesthesia is a high-risk procedure that should only be performed by professionals in the area, such as the anesthesiologist, who is the one who is prepared to perform the intervention.

There are other conditions that can increase the risk of a complication during this procedure, such as those with a history of anaphylactic shock (an allergic reaction), obesity , drug addicts, among others.

This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.

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