General anesthesia used in children can have many consequences. The child's body grows and develops very quickly, and any interference with the central nervous system can negatively affect the child's development. This article discusses the main complications that can develop after surgical interventions using general anesthesia.
General anesthesia
General anesthesia is a condition deep sleep which is called medications. Thanks to anesthesia, doctors have the opportunity to perform long and complex operations. This is especially significant in pediatric surgery, because now children who are born with severe developmental defects have a chance to live of cardio-vascular system and with other deviations.
But anesthesia itself is not a harmless procedure. IN Lately Doctors have conducted a lot of research on its complications and consequences. A special place in their work was given to the influence of general anesthesia on children. Speaking about adults, allergic reactions to injected drugs and complications from the heart are more relevant; in the case of children, problems associated with slow development and disruption of the central nervous system come to the fore.
Drugs used for general anesthesia in children under three years of age can affect the development and formation of nerve connections between neurons in the brain and the processes of myelination of nerves (the formation of a sheath around a nerve fiber). These changes in the central nervous system are the causes negative consequences in child development. When deciding on an operation, the doctor must always weigh the need for it with the harm to the child’s body.
Early complications of general anesthesia
This group of complications is not much different from the same in adults. They usually develop while the child is under anesthesia, or in a short period after it. These complications are caused by the direct effect of the drug on the child’s body. These include:
- Allergic reactions: anaphylactic shock, Quincke's edema.
- Stupor, coma.
- Heart rhythm disturbances, in the form of atrioventricular arrhythmia, His bundle block.
With these sharp and dangerous complications Anesthesiologists must cope. Fortunately, they occur quite rarely.
The anesthesiologist constantly monitors the patient's condition during anesthesia
Late complications after anesthesia in children
Even if the operation was successful, without complications, and there was no reaction to the anesthetic, this does not guarantee that there was no negative effect on the child’s body. Long-term consequences do not appear immediately. They can become noticeable even after a few years.
TO late complications relate:
- Cognitive disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder are described in detail below.
- Chronic and frequent headaches, sometimes in the form of migraines. The occurrence of a headache is usually not associated with any triggering factors. The whole head may hurt, or half of it. The pain is practically not relieved by analgesics.
- Sluggish disturbances in the liver and kidneys.
- Frequent dizziness.
- Leg muscle cramps.
Cognitive disorders develop most often. These include:
- Memory disorders in children. It may be difficult to remember educational material. For example, children may find it difficult to teach foreign languages, poetry. Memory may also be impaired for other reasons, for example, due to a lack of iodine in the body.
It is difficult for a child to remember new material
- Violation logical thinking. It is difficult for children to draw conclusions and look for connections between events.
- Difficulty concentrating on one thing. Such children do not like to read books and find it difficult at school. Usually during training they are distracted and talk. And parents punish and scold them, instead of understanding the reason for the child’s behavior.
In addition to cognitive disorders, anesthesia is dangerous due to the possibility of developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It is manifested by impulsive behavior, impaired attention of the baby and hyperactivity. Such children cannot predict the consequences of their actions, which is why they are frequent guests of trauma centers. They find it difficult to complete any task or adhere to the rules of the game. Hyperactivity is manifested by difficulty sitting in one place for a long time. During lessons they fidget, turn from side to side, chat with classmates.
Hyperactive child
Consequences in young children
The central system in children under three years of age develops very quickly. And at three years the brain weight is almost the same as that of an adult. Any interventions at this age may entail severe consequences. General anesthesia at this age is especially harmful and dangerous.
In addition to attention deficit disorder and cognitive disorders, it can cause harm in the formation of nerve pathways and fibers, connections between parts of the brain, which can lead to the following consequences:
- Lag in physical development. The drugs can harm the parathyroid gland, which is responsible for the growth of the child. Such children may be delayed in growth, but as a rule, they later catch up with their peers.
- Slowdown psychomotor development. Children who have undergone general anesthesia may find it difficult to learn to read, remember numbers, pronounce words correctly, and construct sentences.
- Epilepsy. This complication is quite rare, but has been described clinical cases when this disease started after surgical interventions.
Is it possible to prevent the development of complications?
It is difficult to say whether there will be a complication, when and how it will appear. But you can try to reduce the risk of developing negative consequences in the following ways:
- Carefully examine the baby’s body, if possible. At planned operations It is better to do all the examinations suggested by the treating doctor.
- After surgery, use medications that will improve cerebral circulation, vitamins. A neurologist will help you select them. This could be Piracetam, Cavinton, B vitamins and others.
- Closely monitor the condition and development of your child. It is better to consult a doctor once again to exclude harm from anesthetics.
Having learned about the existence of all these terrible complications, you should not refuse upcoming operations. The main thing is to be attentive to the baby’s health, not to self-medicate at home, and if there is the slightest deviation in his health, go to the pediatrician.
Anesthesia can be dangerous for children
Recently in foreign literature more and more reports began to appear about negative consequences of anesthesia in children, in particular, that anesthesia can cause the development of cognitive disorders. Cognitive disorders refer to impairments in memory, attention, thinking, and learning ability. In addition, scientists began to suggest that anesthesia suffered at an early age may be one of the reasons for the development of the so-called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The reason for holding a series modern research There were statements from many parents that after undergoing anesthesia their child became somewhat absent-minded, his memory deteriorated, his school performance decreased, and in some cases even lost some previously acquired skills.
Back in 2009, an article was published in the American journal Anesthesiology about the significance of the first anesthesia, in particular, the age of the child at which it was performed, in the occurrence of behavioral disorders and impaired intellectual development. The results of the study showed that cognitive disorders were more likely to develop in children who underwent anesthesia before the age of 2 years, rather than at a later time. However, it should be noted that this study was retrospective in nature, that is, it was done “after the fact,” so the scientists concluded that new studies were needed to confirm the results obtained.
Time has passed, and just recently, in a relatively recent issue of the American journal Neurotoxicology and Teratology (August 2011), an article appeared with a heated discussion among scientists about the potential harm of anesthesia on the brain of a growing child. Thus, the results of recent studies on primate cubs showed that within 8 hours after anesthesia with isoflurane (1%) and nitrous oxide (70%) a significant number of deaths occurred in the primate brain. nerve cells(neurons). Although this was not found in a rodent study, given the great genetic similarity of primates to humans, it was concluded that anesthesia may be potentially harmful to the human brain during its active development. Scientists have concluded that avoiding anesthesia during a vulnerable stage of brain development in children will prevent neuronal damage. However, a clear answer to the question of what time frame includes the sensitive period of child brain development has not been obtained.
In the same year (2011) in Vancouver, at the annual meeting of the International Society for Anesthesia Research, a number of reports were made regarding the safety of anesthesia in children. Dr. Randall Flick (Associate Professor, Departments of Anesthesiology and Pediatrics, Mayo Clinic) presented findings from a recent Mayo Clinic study on the potential negative effects of anesthesia in children younger age. The study showed that under the age of 4 years, prolonged exposure to anesthesia (120 minutes or more) increases the likelihood of post-anesthesia cognitive impairment by 2 times. In this regard, the authors of the study consider it justified to postpone the planned surgical treatment until the age of four, under the unconditional condition that delaying the operation will not harm the child’s health.
All this new data, combined with early animal studies, was the reason to start additional research, which should help determine the mechanism of action of individual anesthetics on the child’s brain, establish new guidelines for choosing safe anesthesia, and therefore minimize all possible negative consequences of anesthesia in children.
Despite the fact that anesthesia began to be used back in the days of primitive man, modern ordinary people know very little about it. And this ignorance gives rise to many unfounded fears, which intensify many times over when it comes to the need for general anesthesia for children. And such a need arises not only when performing operations on internal organs.
General anesthesia for children is carried out in situations where it is necessary to “turn off” the child’s consciousness so that he does not feel pain, does not feel fear, does not remember what is happening, and, as a consequence of all this, is not exposed to stress, which in itself can have various negative effects. consequences. In addition, anesthesia allows the doctor to carry out medical procedures calmly, without being distracted by the reaction of the little patient. Therefore, such pain relief pursues exclusively good goals.
However, for general anesthesia, drugs are used that in some cases can cause postoperative complications and undesirable consequences. And this is what most often causes anxiety and fear in parents.
Preparing for general anesthesia in a child
Based on the nature and extent of the impact, anesthesiologists distinguish between “major” and “minor” anesthesia. In the first case, stronger and longer-acting drugs are used, and the patient is connected to the device artificial respiration; the second is short-term and is used for short operations, while the possibility spontaneous breathing the patient is preserved.
In addition, depending on the method of anesthesia, it is divided into:
- Intramuscular - an anesthetic (usually Ketamine) is injected into the muscle. This method does not allow one to accurately predict the duration of its action and is associated with increased risks postoperative complications, and therefore in modern anesthesiological practice it is used less and less in favor of other types.
- Intravenous - medications administered by drip into a vein.
- Inhalation (hardware-mask) - the patient inhales vapors of drugs through a mask. It is this type of general anesthesia that is most often used during operations on children. It is often combined with local anesthesia.
Regardless of the method of administering the anesthetic, if the operation is planned, careful preparation is carried out in advance. The baby will be carefully examined and taken necessary tests (general analysis blood and urine, blood coagulation testing, ECG, etc.), study the medical history and family history, and also prescribe drug therapy, aimed at physiological and mental preparation of the patient for the upcoming anesthesia, in particular, sedatives and hypnotics are prescribed that reinforce the effect of the upcoming anesthesia.
Against the background of infectious and inflammatory processes (for example, during the development of ARVI and within 1-2 weeks after recovery) and exacerbation chronic diseases surgical interventions are not carried out and general anesthesia is not used - all manipulations in this case are delayed until full recovery child or until a period of remission occurs.
On the eve of the operation, a cleansing enema is performed (as an alternative, a diet and laxatives are prescribed) and catheterization Bladder(that is, its emptying). 6 hours before the start of the manipulation, the child should not be fed; 4 hours before the start of the procedure, the child should not be given any liquid! The first step helps prevent the child from inadvertently emptying his bowel during the operation, the second prevents the possible entry of stomach contents into the Airways and suffocation.
Thus, still on preparatory stage Doctors minimize the risk of complications during and after surgery. But, unfortunately, it is impossible to completely exclude it.
Why general anesthesia is dangerous for children: risks and consequences
It should be noted that the greatest responsibility in such cases lies with the anesthesiologist. Of course, the surgeon must have all the necessary skills to operate on children. But if the anesthesiologist does not have a sufficient level of professionalism, then nothing else matters. Therefore, you only need to worry about having a good specialist. He selects a combination of drugs used for anesthesia and sets the optimal dosage. The result of such anesthesia is the child's unconscious stay for a certain period necessary for the surgeon's work, and a favorable postoperative outcome.
IN modern practice drugs are used that have stood the test of time and practice on adult patients and only after that were approved for use in children. They act for a strictly defined period of time, have no serious side effects and are quickly eliminated from the body. Thanks to improvements in the drugs used in anesthesia, the child recovers from anesthesia very quickly (within 15-30 minutes) and can immediately move and eat.
And yet, cases of intolerance do occur. Anticipate non-perception of certain medicinal substances, used in anesthesia, is possible only if the patient or his closest blood relatives have previously had similar reactions to medications.
In extremely rare cases, due to such intolerance, anaphylactic shock (a very life-threatening condition) or malignant hyperemia develops. sharp increase body temperature up to 42-43 o C - as a rule, it is based on a hereditary predisposition). Also among possible complications- cardiovascular failure (impaired blood supply to tissues and organs), respiratory failure(disruption of gas exchange processes in the lungs), aspiration (reflux of stomach contents into the respiratory tract). When performing certain manipulations (placement of catheters on the veins or bladder, tracheal intubation, introduction gastric tube) mechanical trauma cannot be excluded.
In addition, some studies suggest that general anesthesia in children damages neurons in the brain and leads to cognitive impairment, that is, impairments in memory processes: children become more distracted, inattentive, and have poorer learning and mental development for some period after surgery , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder often occurs. But, firstly, the likelihood of such consequences is highest when using intramuscular anesthesia (or rather the already mentioned Ketamine), which is practically not used for children today. Secondly, the validity of such conclusions still remains not fully proven. Thirdly, children under 2 years of age are at greater risk. Fourthly, these phenomena are temporary, and the operation is carried out in connection with real problems with the child’s health. That is, the need for general anesthesia outweighs the likelihood of temporary consequences.
Moreover, it should be understood that serious consequences of general anesthesia actually occur in practice extremely rarely (in 1-2% of cases, or even less often), in exceptional situations. Even if the child falls into this special category patients, then the specially trained medical staff who are involved in the operation will provide him with timely qualified assistance. In addition, throughout the entire operation, from the first minute until another 2 hours after its completion, the child is under strict medical supervision. To monitor the patient’s condition, modern medical technology is used to keep vital signs under control: pulse, heartbeat and heart function, breathing and the level of oxygen/carbon dioxide in exhaled air, arterial pressure, depth of sleep, degree of muscle relaxation and pain relief, body temperature, etc., etc. The surgeon always pays attention to the condition skin and mucous membranes of the operated patient. All this allows us to eliminate possible risks even at the stage of the first signs of their likelihood.
The state of anesthesia is completely controlled by doctors, and the patient is under complete control and supervision.
Therefore, parents should not worry too much. It should be understood that general anesthesia is an ally that helps the baby get rid of a real health problem in the best, most painless way. Moreover, if necessary, it can be repeated several times.
General anesthesia for a child up to one year old
Often, doctors prefer to delay surgical procedures that require general anesthesia in children as long as possible, if time is of the essence. In each individual case, depending on the state of health and the existing problem, the most favorable period for such treatment is determined.
General anesthesia for infants and children under one year of age entails higher risks, since the main systems and organs of the baby (in particular the brain) continue to develop and remain vulnerable to the effects of various factors. However, depending on the diagnosis, it is not always possible to wait. And in this case, parents should understand that general anesthesia for the baby will cause much less harm than the absence of the necessary treatment.
Otherwise, everything stated above is also relevant for this age category of patients. The greatest difficulty for parents is the “hunger pause” before anesthesia: if the child is on breastfeeding, then he cannot be fed 4 hours before the start of the operation; artificial animals are not given anything for 6 hours. And the doctors will take care of the rest.
General anesthesia for children for dental treatment
General anesthesia is also supported by the fact that there is practically no need to carry it out. absolute contraindications(except for the use of certain medications and parental disagreement). In certain cases, it is recommended to use it even when carrying out some diagnostic examinations or, for example, in the process dental treatment. Of course, this is not a type of anesthesia that should be used inappropriately. But in some cases, it allows you to carry out the necessary dental procedures in the best, highest quality manner and at the same time save the child and his family from a lot of suffering.
Experts say that there is no reason to be afraid of general anesthesia during dental treatment in children. But such treatment can only be carried out in specialized clinics that have the appropriate licenses, equipment and personnel specially trained for this.
For whatever reason, a child is under general anesthesia, he will not feel any discomfort from the procedure if at the moment of “switching off” his consciousness and returning to reality, someone close to him is nearby. For the rest, just trust the professionals and don’t worry about anything! Everything will be fine!
Especially for - Ekaterina Vlasenko
At my daughter's inguinal hernia. We were diagnosed almost from birth, but the hernia did not bother us at all. Now the child is 2.6 years old, and the doctor is already insisting on surgery. I am very worried about general anesthesia. I'm worried how my daughter will cope with it. Tell us... I’m very worried... What are the consequences of anesthesia for a child at this age? I read that general anesthesia affects the child’s intelligence, brain function (especially in children early age up to 4 years) and negative consequences may remain. Maybe we should wait a little longer with the operation?
- Irina, Moscow
- January 16, 2018, 11:18
Currently, general anesthesia does not involve much risk if the treatment is carried out in a specialized institution equipped with the necessary equipment and in the presence of an anesthesiologist-resuscitator. Of course, the tolerability of anesthesia depends on individual characteristics the child and his somatic status. But I cannot say that general anesthesia increases the risk of developing intellectual problems and affects brain function, as well as the fact that a child’s reaction to anesthesia will change after 4 years. Modern drugs for anesthesia, they have low toxicity, are hypoallergenic, are quickly eliminated from the body, and allow anesthesia to be carried out with minimal consequences.
If you choose the right drug and its dosage, taking into account the upcoming surgical intervention, current state health of the baby and others important factors, the risks of negative consequences are practically eliminated.
In our clinic, in addition to traditional clinical assessment of the depth and adequacy of anesthesia, we use hardware control of anesthesia depth using BIS monitoring. This system measures the functional activity of the patient's brain (using the EEG method), allowing the anesthesiologist to more accurately manage anesthesia. Focusing on monitoring indicators, we are able to use anesthetics more rationally (usually by reducing the dose), prevent excessive dosage of the drug and achieve a smoother recovery of the patient from anesthesia. The method is harmless, has no contraindications, and can be performed on children of any age (including newborns).
BIS monitoring is widely used in the USA, Western Europe and has already been included in the standard of mandatory intraoperative monitoring in a number of foreign countries. In Russia, unfortunately, only a few medical institutions have this equipment.
Why is general anesthesia dangerous for a child? Yes, in some cases it is necessary. Often - to save the life of a child.
But also negative sides the effects of anesthesia exist. That is, it is like a coin that has two sides, like a double-edged sword.
Naturally, before a child’s upcoming operation, parents try to find out how dangerous this intervention is and what exactly is the danger of general anesthesia for the child.
Sometimes general anesthesia scares people even more than surgery. In many ways, this anxiety is fueled by numerous conversations around.
Surgeons who prepare a patient for surgery talk little about anesthesia. And the main specialist in this matter - the anesthesiologist - advises and explains everything only shortly before the operation.
So people are looking for information on the Internet. And here she is, to put it mildly, different. Who to believe?
Today we’ll talk about the types of anesthesia in the nursery. medical practice, about indications and contraindications for it, about possible consequences. And, of course, we will dispel myths in this topic.
Many medical manipulations They are very painful, so even an adult cannot endure them without pain relief. What can we say about the child?..
Yes, subjecting a child to even a simple procedure without pain relief is a huge stress for small organism. This may cause neurotic disorders(tics, stuttering, sleep disturbances). And also this is a lifelong fear of people in white coats.
That's why to avoid discomfort and reduce stress from medical procedures, use pain-relieving techniques in surgery.
General anesthesia is actually called anesthesia. This is an artificially created, controlled state in which there is no consciousness and no reaction to pain. At the same time, vital important functions body (breathing, heart function).
Modern anesthesiology has advanced significantly over the past 20 years. Thanks to it, today it is possible to use new drugs and their combinations to suppress involuntary reflex reactions of the body and reduce muscle tone when such a need arises.
According to the method of administration, general anesthesia in children can be inhalation, intravenous and intramuscular.
In pediatric practice, inhalation (hardware-mask) anesthesia is more often used. With machine-mask anesthesia, the child receives a dose of painkillers in the form of an inhalation mixture.
This type of anesthesia is used for short, simple operations, as well as for some types of research when a short-term switching off of the child’s consciousness is required.
Painkillers used during hardware-mask anesthesia are called inhalational anesthetics (Ftorotan, Isoflurane, Sevoflurane).
Intramuscular anesthesia is practically not used for children today, since with such anesthesia it is difficult for the anesthesiologist to control the duration and depth of sleep.
It has also been established that a commonly used drug for intramuscular anesthesia, such as Ketamine, is unsafe for child's body. Therefore, intramuscular anesthesia is leaving pediatric practice.
For long and difficult operations, intravenous anesthesia is used or combined with inhalation. This allows you to achieve a multicomponent pharmacological effect on the body.
Intravenous anesthesia involves the use of various medications. Here are used narcotic analgesics(not drugs!), muscle relaxants that relax skeletal muscles, sleeping pills, various infusion solutions.
During the operation, the patient is given artificial ventilation lungs (ventilator) with a special device.
Accepts final decision Only an anesthesiologist can tell you about the need for a particular type of anesthesia for a particular child.
It all depends on the condition of the little patient, on the type and duration of the operation, on the availability concomitant pathology, from the qualifications of the doctor himself.
To do this, before the operation, parents must tell the anesthesiologist as much information as possible about the characteristics of the child’s growth and development.
In particular, the doctor should learn from parents and/or medical records:
- how pregnancy and childbirth proceeded;
- what type of feeding was it: natural (up to what age) or artificial;
- what illnesses the child suffered;
- whether there were cases of allergies in the child himself or in close relatives and to what exactly;
- what is the child’s vaccination status and whether any negative reactions of the body during vaccination have been previously identified.
Contraindications
There are no absolute contraindications to general anesthesia.
Relative contraindications may include:
The presence of concomitant pathology that can negatively affect the condition during anesthesia or recovery after it. For example, constitutional anomalies accompanied by hypertrophy of the thymus gland.
A disease accompanied by difficulty in nasal breathing. For example, due to a deviated nasal septum, proliferation of adenoids, chronic rhinitis (for inhalation anesthesia).
Having allergies to medications. Sometimes the child is given allergy tests before surgery. As a result of such tests (skin tests or in vitro tests), the doctor will have an idea of which drugs the body takes and which it gives an allergic reaction to.
Based on this, the doctor will decide in favor of using one or another drug for anesthesia.
If the child suffered ARVI or another infection with fever the day before, the operation is postponed until full recovery body (the interval between the disease and treatment under anesthesia must be at least 2 weeks).
If the child has eaten before surgery. Children with a full stomach are not allowed to undergo surgery, as there is high risk aspiration (stomach contents entering the lungs).
If the operation cannot be postponed, the gastric contents can be evacuated using a gastric tube.
Before the operation or hospitalization itself, parents should provide psychological preparation to the child.
Hospitalization itself for a baby, even without surgery, is a difficult ordeal. The child is frightened by separation from his parents, a foreign environment, a change of regime, people in white coats.
Of course, not in all cases the child needs to be told about the upcoming anesthesia.
If the disease interferes with the child and brings him suffering, then the child needs to be explained that the operation will relieve him of the disease. You can explain to the child that with the help of a special children's anesthesia, he will fall asleep and wake up when everything is done.
Parents should always talk about how they will be with their child before and after surgery. Therefore, the baby must wake up after anesthesia and see the people closest to him.
If the child is old enough, you can explain to him what awaits him in the near future (blood test, blood pressure measurement, electrocardiogram, cleansing enema, etc.). This way the child won't be scared various procedures because he didn't know about them.
The hardest thing for parents and young children is to maintain a hunger pause. I have already spoken about the risk of aspiration above.
The child should not be fed 6 hours before anesthesia, and 4 hours before the anesthesia the child should not even be given water.
A breastfed baby can be put to the breast 4 hours before the upcoming operation.
A child receiving formula milk should not be fed 6 hours before anesthesia.
Before the operation, the small patient’s intestines are cleaned with an enema to prevent involuntary stool passing during the operation. This is very important when abdominal operations(on the abdominal organs).
In children's clinics, doctors have many devices in their arsenal to distract children's attention from upcoming procedures. These include breathing bags (masks) with images of various animals, and scented face masks, for example, with the scent of strawberries.
There are also special children's ECG devices, in which the electrodes are decorated with images of the faces of different animals.
All this helps to distract and interest the child, conduct an examination in the form of a game, and even give the child the right to choose, for example, a mask for himself.
Consequences of anesthesia for a child’s body
In fact, a lot depends on the professionalism of the anesthesiologist. After all, it is he who selects the method of administering anesthesia, necessary drug and its dosage.
In pediatric practice, preference is given to proven drugs with good tolerability, that is, with minimal side effects, and which are quickly eliminated from the child’s body.
There is always a risk of intolerance to drugs or their components, especially in children prone to allergies.
It is possible to predict this situation only if the child’s close relatives had a similar reaction. Therefore, this information is always clarified before the operation.
Below are the consequences of anesthesia, which can arise not only due to intolerance to medications.
- Anaphylactic shock ( allergic reaction immediate type).
- Malignant hyperemia (temperature rise above 40 degrees).
- Cardiovascular or respiratory failure.
- Aspiration (reflux of stomach contents into the respiratory tract).
- Mechanical trauma cannot be excluded during catheterization of veins or bladder, tracheal intubation, or insertion of a probe into the stomach.
The likelihood of such consequences exists, although it is extremely small (1-2%).
Recently, information has emerged that anesthesia can damage the neurons of a child’s brain and affect the rate of development of the baby.
In particular, it is assumed that anesthesia disrupts memory processes new information. It is difficult for the child to concentrate and learn new material.
This pattern was assumed after using injectable drugs such as Ketamine for intramuscular anesthesia, which is practically not used in pediatric practice today. But the validity of such conclusions still remains unproven.
Moreover, if such changes exist, they are not lifelong. Cognitive abilities usually recover within a few days after anesthesia.
Children recover from anesthesia much faster than adults, since metabolic processes are faster and adaptation capabilities young body higher than in adulthood.
And here a lot depends not only on the professionalism of the anesthesiologist, but also on the individual characteristics of the child’s body.
Young children, that is, under two years of age, are at greater risk. Children at this age are actively maturing nervous system, and new neural connections are formed in the brain.
Therefore, operations under anesthesia are, if possible, postponed until after 2 years.
Myths about anesthesia
“What if the child doesn’t wake up after the operation?”
World statistics say that this is extremely rare (1 in 100,000 operations). Moreover, more often than not, this outcome of the operation is associated not with the reaction to anesthesia, but with the risks of the surgical intervention itself.
It is in order to minimize such risks that the patient undergoes a thorough examination during planned operations. If any disorders or diseases are detected, the operation is postponed until the little patient has fully recovered.
“What if the child feels everything?”
Firstly, no one calculates the dosage of anesthetics for anesthesia “by eye”. Everything is calculated based on the individual parameters of the small patient (weight, height).
Secondly, during the operation the child’s condition is constantly monitored.
They monitor the patient's pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure and body temperature, oxygen/carbon dioxide levels in the blood (saturation).
IN modern clinics With good operating equipment, you can even monitor the depth of anesthesia and the degree of relaxation of the patient’s skeletal muscles. This allows you to accurately monitor minimal deviations in the child’s condition during surgery.
“Mask anesthesia is an outdated technique. More safe look intravenous anesthesia"
Most operations (more than 50%) in pediatric practice are performed using inhalation (mask) anesthesia.
This type of anesthesia eliminates the need for strong medicines and their complex combinations, in contrast to intravenous anesthesia.
At the same time, inhalation anesthesia gives the anesthesiologist greater opportunity for maneuver and allows better management and control of the depth of anesthesia.
In any case, regardless of the reasons for which a child is indicated for surgery with anesthesia, anesthesia is a necessity.
This is a savior, an assistant who will help you get rid of the disease in a painless way.
After all, even with minimal intervention under local anesthesia When a child sees everything but does not feel, not every child’s psyche can withstand this “spectacle.”
Anesthesia allows treatment of non-contact and low-contact children. Provides comfortable conditions for the patient and the doctor, reduces treatment time and improves its quality.
Moreover, not in all cases we have the opportunity to wait, even if the child is small.
In this case, doctors try to explain to parents that leaving the child’s illness without surgical treatment, can provoke greater consequences than the likelihood of developing temporary consequences of general anesthesia.
Practicing pediatrician and twice-mother Elena Borisova-Tsarenok told you how dangerous general anesthesia is for a child.
