“Is general anesthesia safe during pregnancy?”
My wife needs to have surgery during her pregnancy, but the surgery has to be done under general anesthesia. There's no way around it either. Will general anesthesia pose a risk for our baby? She's in her second trimester.
10 Answers
It is very important to inform the Anesthesialogist of the pregnancy and also the trimester. The second trimester is the safest both for the mother and child. But the anesthesiologist needs to be aware of the trimester and the pregnancy, in order to adjust doses, avoid certain drugs and even prepare for monitoring of your baby intra and post operation.
The good news is it is not in the 1st or the 3rd. We call this period the honey moon. To answer your question, yes, drugs could cross to the baby so the anesthesia provider must know pharmacology very well and be well trained. A GOOD MD is a must, better if he/she had an OB fellowship.
There is no risk for the mother or the baby from general anesthesia
Yes, a safe GA can be provided to a patient during the 2nd trimester. However, GA carries a slightly greater risk for the baby than regional anesthesia.
Ideally it is better to avoid Anesthesia during pregnancy. However if it is deemed necessary to have surgery, General Anesthesia can be safely administered by a trained Anesthesiologist.
The usual risks for general anesthesia applies to babies who undergo anesthesia and recover fairly quickly. Many surgeries are done for newborn babies and most of them do good.
Surgery is NOT recommend during pregnancy, unless it's an emergency to save life or limbs! If surgery is necessary without any shadow of a doubt, regional anesthesia is preferred over general anesthesia. All anesthesia drugs may pose danger to developing fetuses!
Yi-Hwa Outerbridge, MD
Yi-Hwa Outerbridge, MD
Since your asking this question, I think you already know the answer. And if your wife needs the surgery, what will be will be. Unlikely any problem, but why cause yourself and your wife unnecessary anxiety- do you think the stress caused by worrying about it is good for your baby?
Surgery requiring general anesthesia is best to be avoided if possible. When necessary, the commonly used anesthetic agents have no known effects that are detrimental to the fetus. However, there are obviously no scientific studies in humans and all studies are animal based. As a result, the anesthesiologist administers the fewest drugs needed to limit exposure to the fetus. 2nd trimester surgery is much preferable to 1st trimester. Premature labor after surgery is dependent on the site of surgery. Abdominal surgery is much more likely to be associated with premature labor than surgery on the extremities.
In general we try to avoid general anesthesia during pregnancy however we always weigh the risk of waiting on surgery to completing it. Saying that, general anesthesia is relatively safe after the 2nd trimester.
