“Is general anesthesia safe for 9 year old child?”
My 9 year old son must have a surgery under general anesthesia. Is general anesthesia safe for 9 year old child?
9 Answers
Yes
With all the new technology, anesthesia is quite safe at almost any age.
Generally speaking yes
If the child doesn't have any diseases and it's a short procedure, complications are minimal.
Since I do not know the health status of your son specifically, nor did you indicate what operation your son is having, this reply applies to the typical non-obese healthy 9-year-old anticipating a common ambulatory surgical procedure.
General anesthesia can be considered a controlled drug-induced coma. I call it “controlled” because the anesthesiologist follows its progress from induction to emergence on a minute-to-minute basis, adding drug X to produce one effect, and perhaps drug Y to produce another effect. The anesthesiologist is actually able to see how the patient responds to the drugs as they are administered.
In general, anesthesia medications are administered either according to weight or according to desired effect. All anesthesia medications in clinical use have been extensively tested and have met stringent FDA standards for safety. Bottom line: General anesthesia is safer for a healthy nine year old boy than most daily activities such as crossing a busy street during business hours or eating in a restaurant.
Please keep in mind, however, that rare unanticipated events can occur. Could your son have an allergy or experience some other rare reaction to one of the medications he’d be receiving? It’s possible, but likelihood is extremely low. What about rare genetic mutations that can cause problems when patients receive medications called muscle relaxants? That’s just it: they’re mutations, and occur rarely; so rarely in fact that for some of them you’d have to test populations of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, to find someone who is positive.
So as with all other things, it’s impossible to assure you with 100% certainty that an injury or an adverse event will not occur with general anesthesia, but what we can say with 100% certainty is that general anesthesia is safe for a healthy 9 year-old boy.
General anesthesia can be considered a controlled drug-induced coma. I call it “controlled” because the anesthesiologist follows its progress from induction to emergence on a minute-to-minute basis, adding drug X to produce one effect, and perhaps drug Y to produce another effect. The anesthesiologist is actually able to see how the patient responds to the drugs as they are administered.
In general, anesthesia medications are administered either according to weight or according to desired effect. All anesthesia medications in clinical use have been extensively tested and have met stringent FDA standards for safety. Bottom line: General anesthesia is safer for a healthy nine year old boy than most daily activities such as crossing a busy street during business hours or eating in a restaurant.
Please keep in mind, however, that rare unanticipated events can occur. Could your son have an allergy or experience some other rare reaction to one of the medications he’d be receiving? It’s possible, but likelihood is extremely low. What about rare genetic mutations that can cause problems when patients receive medications called muscle relaxants? That’s just it: they’re mutations, and occur rarely; so rarely in fact that for some of them you’d have to test populations of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, to find someone who is positive.
So as with all other things, it’s impossible to assure you with 100% certainty that an injury or an adverse event will not occur with general anesthesia, but what we can say with 100% certainty is that general anesthesia is safe for a healthy 9 year-old boy.
Since I don't know what surgery or the reasons or his medical history, I cannot answer as completely as possible. However, yes general anesthetic is safe, but not completely without risks. But given his age and whatever surgery he is having, most anesthesiologists will schedule a time with you to meet with you and discuss the risks and the plan for anesthesia they
plan on using. This gives you the chance to all the questions you want and make sure you have the best information. If this has not been offered to you, please contact your surgeon or the facility where the surgery is going to be done and ask for a pre-surgery conference with the anesthesia team.
Thanks.
plan on using. This gives you the chance to all the questions you want and make sure you have the best information. If this has not been offered to you, please contact your surgeon or the facility where the surgery is going to be done and ask for a pre-surgery conference with the anesthesia team.
Thanks.
Yes it is.
Yes
General anesthesia is certainly safe for children when administered and monitored by the appropriate professional. I recommend ensuring that the anesthesia is provided by an anesthesiologist, a doctor of medicine who has completed a full residency training program in the specialty of anesthesiology. If the surgery is a dental procedure, I do not recommend consenting to allow the dentist and/or the dental nurses administer the anesthesia, especially in an office setting. =20
