Difficulty Breathing After Surgery

FIRE 375, Atayeva Zhanna

Understanding the Risks Involved When Having Surgery

Common Surgical Risks

Anesthesia Complications During Surgery

The problem of anesthesia awareness has been discussed a great deal in the media, but waking during surgery or being awake throughout the surgery, is a very rare when anesthesia is provided by an anesthesiologist or a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA).

Malignant hyperthermia, a reaction to anesthesia that causes the patient’s temperature to rise rapidly, is life threatening. A patient who has had malignant hyperthermia in the past has a significant increase in risk and should discuss the issue with their surgeon and anesthesia provider.

Bleeding Problems During Surgery

Some bleeding is expected during surgery, but bleeding beyond the normal amount can make a transfusion necessary. If bleeding is severe enough to cause a crisis, surgery may be terminated or a significant transfusion may be necessary.

Blood Clots Caused by Surgery

Blood clots, often referred to as a deep vein thrombosis (DVT) are a significant risk of surgery. The clots can start in the area of surgery or be caused by inactivity during recovery.A clot can become a critical complication if it begins to travel through the bloodstream and lodge in the lung, a condition referred to as a pulmonary embolus, or to the brain, causing a stroke or “brain attack”.

Patients with a previous DVT are at greater risk for additional clots and should make their surgeon aware of this condition.

Death Due to Surgery

All surgeries, whether elective or absolutely necessary, carry a risk of death. A surgery that requires stopping the heart will have a higher risk than a surgery to remove tonsils, but both can still result in death.

Trauma surgery, an emergency surgery to safe the life of an injured patient who will die without an intervention, is an example of a very high risk surgery. In this case, the possibility of survival after surgery contrasts with the certainty of death without.

When considering a non-essential procedure, such as plastic surgery, the seriousness of surgery should be considered when making the decision to the procedure.

Delayed Healing After Surgery

Some patients take longer to heal than others, particularly people with more than one illness. A patient with a chronic illness, an immune system problem, or sickness in the weeks prior to surgery may have a lengthier hospital stay and a more difficult recovery period.

Difficulty Breathing After Surgery

Most patients can be removed from the breathing machine, or ventilator, at the end of surgery. In extreme cases, patients must be transferred to a rehabilitation facility for the purpose strengthening their breathing until they are able to be removed from the ventilator completely.

Patients most at risk for remaining on the ventilator are those with pulmonary diseases, smokers, patients who are chronically ill and patients who required ventilator support prior to surgery.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14