What are the effects of general anesthesia on children?

If a child needs to undergo general anesthesia, parents must be very worried. Therefore, it is very necessary for these parents to understand the impact of general anesthesia on children. So what are the effects of general anesthesia on children? Next, this article will introduce the effects of general anesthesia on children for your reference only. Friends who want to know more about this can take a look.

What are the effects of general anesthesia on children? The effects of general anesthesia on children are as follows:

1. Reflux, aspiration, and aspiration pneumonia

Vomiting or regurgitation under anesthesia may lead to serious consequences, such as aspiration of gastric contents, which may cause acute airway obstruction and other serious lung complications. It is currently one of the important causes of death in patients under general anesthesia. The extent of acute lung injury caused by aspiration in patients is directly related to the physical and chemical properties (such as pH, fat fragments and their size) and volume of the aspirated gastric contents, as well as bacterial contamination.

2. Restlessness

During the recovery period of general anesthesia, most patients are drowsy, quiet, or have mild disorientation, and their brain functions gradually return to normal. However, some patients still experience greater emotional fluctuations, manifested as uncontrollable crying and irritability (restlessness). In addition to being related to preoperative and intraoperative medication, postoperative pain may also be an important factor causing agitation.

3. Delayed awakening after general anesthesia

After general anesthesia is stopped, the patient usually wakes up within 60 to 90 minutes, and the command movement, orientation ability and preoperative memory are restored. If the patient is still not fully conscious after this time limit, it can be considered that the patient is experiencing delayed recovery from general anesthesia. Common causes of delayed awakening after general anesthesia include prolonged drug action, advanced age, systemic metabolic diseases, and central nervous system damage.

4. Postoperative nausea and vomiting

Postoperative nausea and vomiting are very common problems after general anesthesia, causing discomfort to patients and affecting their rest. The incidence rate is 20% to 30%. The incidence rate is relatively high in patients with relevant medical history, females and those receiving inhalation anesthesia.

5. Bronchospasm

Acute bronchospasm may occur during anesthesia and after surgery, and is characterized by spasmodic contraction of bronchial smooth muscles, airway narrowing, a sudden increase in airway resistance, expiratory dyspnea, and severe hypoxia and CO2 accumulation. If it is not relieved immediately, the patient will not be able to ventilate effectively, which will not only cause hemodynamic changes but even arrhythmia and cardiac arrest.

6. Hypoxemia and hypoventilation

Respiratory complications are still one of the main reasons for delaying postoperative recovery and threatening patients' lives after general anesthesia. The most common cause of airway obstruction after general anesthesia is pharyngeal obstruction due to the tongue falling back due to the failure to fully recover consciousness; laryngeal obstruction can be caused by laryngeal spasm or direct airway injury.

7. Acute atelectasis

Acute atelectasis refers to the sudden collapse of a lung segment, lobe or one side of the lung, resulting in loss of ventilation function. Acute atelectasis is one of the serious complications after surgery, especially after general anesthesia. Large-area acute atelectasis may cause insufficient compensation of respiratory function, resulting in the patient's death from severe hypoxia.

8. Hypertension

During the recovery period of general anesthesia, hypertension is very likely to occur due to the wearing off of the effects of anesthetics, pain and discomfort, as well as stimulation from suctioning sputum and removal of the endotracheal tube.

The above is an introduction to the effects of general anesthesia on children. I believe that after reading the above introduction, you already know the effects of general anesthesia on children. From the above introduction, we can see that general anesthesia has more impact on children. Therefore, parents and friends should be mentally prepared!