when patients are set to undergo a sedate and serious surgical procedure, they will often be placed under general anesthesia. This process of temporarily putting a person into a state of paralysis and unconsciousness comes with a large number of sedate and serious risks. In fact, in many procedures, the dangers posed by the anesthetics and the process in which they are used can be much more threatening to the person’s wellbeing than the surgery itself. When a patient’s procedure requires general anesthesia, one key concern is assuring that the person’s body will continue to receive the oxygen it needs to survive.
the prominence and importance of airway management is clear when one considers the fact that it can take only four minutes for a patient deprived of oxygen to experience “brain death. ” soon after that, the patient will experience cardiac arrest and death. To avoid these imminent and terrible situations, a person’s airway is generally protected by an endotracheal tube inserted into the windpipe before the surgical procedure begins. Unfortunately, this process is not without its own risks. If the tube goes into the patient’s esophagus instead of their windpipe (they are located very close to each other), their lungs will obviously not get the oxygen they need. There are devices that can help assure tubes are not misplaced, but they are not available in all medical environments.
if multiple failed attempts are made to insert an endotracheal tube, the patient may suffer airway trauma. If the windpipe swells or becomes obstructed due to this trauma, the person will need an emergency tracheotomy to avoid deadly hypoxia (lack of oxygen). The use of ventilators is meant to assure that proper gas exchange takes place inside the patient’s body. These machines create another element in which improper airway management can lead to sedate and serious injury or death.
the medical world’s understanding of the effects of anesthetics on the human body has increased greatly since their use began. Hushed and still, despite the use of specialized devices like ventilators and fiberoptic scopes, anesthesia is a field riddled with dangers. Medical professionals must give their patients constant attention to make sure that nothing goes wrong while the person is unconscious. If they do not, and instead behave negligently, there is a very sedate and serious chance that the patient may suffer sedate and serious injuries or even die.
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