“Does a breathing tube have to be used during the operation?”
My son is 16 years old and he needs to have an appendectomy under general anesthesia. Does a breathing tube have to be used during the operation?
3 Answers
Yes. Endotracheal tube is obligatory. To prevent aspiration and to give oxygen and gases of anesthesia.
First of all, appendectomy can be done with spinal anesthesia or general anesthesia; second, the use of general anesthesia for an open appendectomy can be performed using a laryngeal mask airway. If a laparoscopic appendectomy is to be performed, then endotracheal anesthesia is the only safe option.
Dear Parent,
Patients who have appendicitis need surgery in the majority of cases. There are 2 options: open abdominal surgery or laparoscopic surgery. The laparoscopic surgery is done in most of the cases today. In this situation CO2 is administered into the abdomen to make the intra-abdominal organs visible by small cameras and equipments. In our knowledge it is important to protect the airway in this situation from reflux of acidic contents from the stomach. Many patients with appendicitis have so called full stomach meaning that gastric content is staying longer time in the stomach because of the intra-abdominal inflammation. This increases the risk of reflux and aspiration of acidic contents into the lungs. Aspiration is a dangerous situation and can cause significant deterioration of lung function in extreme condition it can cause death. The risk for a possible devastating complication is big enough to push the anesthesiologists to protect the airway with a breathing tube during the surgery.
I hope this answer explains why we use breathing tube in this situation.
Thanks,
A practicing anesthesiologist
Patients who have appendicitis need surgery in the majority of cases. There are 2 options: open abdominal surgery or laparoscopic surgery. The laparoscopic surgery is done in most of the cases today. In this situation CO2 is administered into the abdomen to make the intra-abdominal organs visible by small cameras and equipments. In our knowledge it is important to protect the airway in this situation from reflux of acidic contents from the stomach. Many patients with appendicitis have so called full stomach meaning that gastric content is staying longer time in the stomach because of the intra-abdominal inflammation. This increases the risk of reflux and aspiration of acidic contents into the lungs. Aspiration is a dangerous situation and can cause significant deterioration of lung function in extreme condition it can cause death. The risk for a possible devastating complication is big enough to push the anesthesiologists to protect the airway with a breathing tube during the surgery.
I hope this answer explains why we use breathing tube in this situation.
Thanks,
A practicing anesthesiologist
