“Can general anesthesia cause lung damage?”
I will have surgery under local anesthesia. Can general anesthesia cause lung damage?
2 Answers
General anesthesia requires intubation (pitting a tube down your throat into your lungs), which can occasionally be traumatic and cause post operative inflammation resulting in soar throat, sometimes discomfort when swallowing, hoarseness of voice (laryngitis). This seldom occurs, but can. Lung damage occurs occasionally if you aspirate. This usually happens after surgery, when they take the endotracheal tube (ETT).
Yes, atelectasis.
