Anesthesia mask for children consequences. Negative consequences of anesthesia in children: memory, thinking, attention. Children's anesthesia - how safe is it for a young body

Imagine the situation: the patient needs to undergo an operation, and pain relief as such does not exist. The patient has, say, an appendicitis, a displaced fracture, or a simple superficial abscess that needs to be opened and cleaned. And there is no anesthesia! Can you imagine yourself in the place of such a patient? Wouldn't want to, right?

But an adult patient, at least, can grit his teeth and endure (if there is no other way out). And the child - in any case. And therefore, it is not at all pathetic to say that the introduction of anesthesia led to a real revolution in medicine and gave a serious impetus to the development of surgery and other related disciplines.

What doctors didn’t come up with in the past in order to still perform a surgical intervention: they gave them alcohol and various narcotic potions, tied them with strong ropes, put a gag in their mouths, tried to use hypnosis and charms, hit the back of the head with a special hammer to “knock out” the patient for a while... And sometimes it really helped. In other cases, it sent the patient to the other world even before the intervention began. But there was no other choice.

Thomas Morton made mankind happy: on October 16, 1846, for the first time, he publicly performed successful anesthesia during an operation. And it changed the course of history. A new science has appeared - anesthesiology, which has developed rapidly and today has huge developments.

About local "anesthesia"

In fact, local "anesthesia" does not exist. Anesthesia is only general. Local anesthesia or anesthesia can be used. This is in terms of terminology. And speaking of childhood: almost all operations for children are performed under anesthesia, and you should not ask the doctor for local anesthesia for the child. Yes, it is possible to anesthetize locally and the child will not be hurt at all. But the stress that he will receive from what he sees will lead to worse consequences.

In addition, the child will not lie motionless on the operating table if he is conscious. And so there is a law in pediatrics: the child should not be present at his operation.

The anesthesiologist will take care of 3 main tasks, among many others: the child will not get sick, he will not get stress, his vegetative (automatic) functions (work of the heart, respiration, nervous system, etc.) will also not receive excessive impulses due to injuries and all vital signs will not jump.

Removal of adenoids under local anesthesia

Given the above, you need to understand that children are not recommended to carry out even minor surgical interventions without anesthesia. And this also applies to the adenoids. Local anesthesia will completely eliminate the pain, but the conscious child will be taken away from the mother, fixed (consider tied) and he will see the surgeon working with special instruments in his oral cavity. All this can have very negative psychological consequences in the future.

The pain itself is hard to bear at the moment, but is relatively easy to forget and does not create problems in the future.

In turn, stress may not be noticed at first, but it will manifest itself after a few months or even years. I often communicate with parents who bring their children to our hospital for such operations. And they still talk with horror about their experience in childhood, although more than 20-30 years have passed since then. In this regard, it is better to carry out even such unpleasant procedures as EGD, colonoscopy, etc. in a medical sleep. This also applies. Although here fellow dentists in many cases have learned to eliminate stress with various children's amusements and are relatively successful without anesthesia.

However, in many cases, neither fun nor cartoons help. A light drug-induced sleep will help the child sleep, get medical treatment and go home in a good mood.

About MRI or CT examinations of children under anesthesia

In the vast majority of CT or MRI tomographs work covertly and such examinations are expensive. To obtain a high-quality image, the patient must lie still during the examination. Otherwise, the image will turn out to be of poor quality, it will be very difficult to make a correct diagnosis, and you will still pay money for the visit. And if a CT examination lasts an average of 3-5 minutes, then an MRI scan takes at least 20 minutes. A child of preschool age or with diseases of the central nervous system simply cannot lie motionless for so long. Medical sleep comes to the rescue. However, this is perhaps the biggest fear of parents before agreeing to a picture. But you should not be afraid.

Because what we do during such an examination, from a scientific point of view, is not anesthesia, but only sedation. That is, the dose and amount of drugs is much less than during the operation, because here we turn off only consciousness. The child is asleep, but all his reflexes are working. Even pain sensitivity is preserved. Short-term drugs are introduced: they are quickly and completely excreted from the body. The child wakes up immediately after the examination and after a few hours leads a normal life.

About the dangers of anesthesia for children

The anesthesia procedure already has a whole history of myths, prejudices and unjustified fears. But serious scientific studies show that general anesthesia is safe for children.

Some patients or their parents note temporary mood swings, mental lability, slight memory impairment and absent-mindedness after prolonged anesthesia. But all these side effects disappear within a few days or weeks (in some cases).

Thus, anesthesia has a more gentle effect on the body than the stress resulting from surgery.

About different types of anesthesia

To date, there are many ways to conduct anesthesia for children, even if they have various concomitant diseases. Anesthesia can be combined with local anesthesia, regional anesthesia, etc.

There are a number of drugs that can be used during anesthesia. They differ in their action and price. Sometimes parents ask for the “best” anesthesia for their child, without realizing what they want to get as a result. So, all official preparations enable the anesthesiologist to perform anesthesia and provide the child with adequate pain relief.

But expensive modern drugs are more quickly excreted from the body and have fewer side effects. Speaking superficially, in most cases, after such anesthesia, the child wakes up faster, does not feel hallucinations, starts drinking and eating faster and returns to an active lifestyle faster. But it is not always possible to use such drugs. Only an anesthesiologist can choose the right drugs, the amount and dose of drugs administered.

About anesthesiologists

In many developed countries of the world, anesthesiologists are among the highest paid doctors, and in the United States this profession is in first place in terms of wages among all professions. In fact, it is the most intelligent medical specialty.

In Ukraine, such specialists prepare patients for surgery, provide anesthesia and care in the early postoperative period. In addition, anesthesiologists provide intensive care for all patients treated in intensive care. And if any narrow specialist deals with pathologies of one or several types, the anesthesiologist must navigate in all.

If the patient gets worse in any department of the hospital, the anesthesiologist is called. If an ambulance brings a seriously ill patient to the hospital, the anesthesiologist will be the first to meet him.

If doctors from the maternity hospital meet children who come into this world, then anesthesiologists sometimes have to accompany them to another world. And all because they work with the most seriously ill patients.

About "came, gave an injection and left"

Very often people think this way about the work of an anesthesiologist in the operating room. But in fact, anesthesia for a doctor is an art. Each doctor has his own style in conducting anesthesia. During general anesthesia, many different drugs are administered. It is not only their dose that matters, but also the sequence and order of administration.

During anesthesia, blood loss occurs, blood pressure changes, breathing changes, allergic reactions appear, and other unforeseen side effects and complications. And the task of the anesthesiologist is to keep everything in order, to prevent imbalance and disaster.

Much depends on the work of the anesthesiologist: how well the child will come out of anesthesia, how his postoperative period will pass. Most often, patients learn a lot about their surgeon before trusting him, but know nothing about their anesthetist at all.

conclusions

Today, the development of medicine and anesthesiology, in particular, makes it possible to perform any surgical intervention, unpleasant procedure and manipulation with absolutely no pain and no stress. It is safe and has no long-term negative effects. But it is very important to trust the doctors you need to work with.

You can learn a lot about your doctors through the reviews of other patients. You can come, chat and ask all the necessary questions to the doctor before agreeing to cooperate with him. The law allows you to choose the hospital and the doctor who will perform the surgery and the doctor who will provide anesthesia. Trust will allow you to be more calm, and these days will pass easier, without significant stress and moral overwork.

Pavel Silkovsky,

pediatric anesthetist,

regional children's hospital, Rivne

General anesthesia is a procedure by which the patient's autonomic reactions are suppressed, turning off his consciousness. Despite the fact that anesthesia has been used for a very long time, the need for its use, especially in children, causes a lot of fears and concerns among parents. What is the danger of general anesthesia for a child?

General anesthesia: is it necessary?

Many parents are sure that general anesthesia is very dangerous for their child, but they cannot say for sure what exactly. One of the main fears is that the child may not wake up after the operation.. Such cases are indeed recorded, but they occur extremely rarely. Most often, painkillers have nothing to do with them, and death occurs as a result of the surgical intervention itself.

Before performing anesthesia, the specialist receives written permission from the parents. However, before refusing to use it, you should think carefully, as some cases require the mandatory use of complex anesthesia.

Usually, general anesthesia is used if it is necessary to turn off the child’s consciousness, protect him from fear, pain and prevent the stress that the baby will experience while being present at his own operation, which can negatively affect his still fragile psyche.

Before using general anesthesia, contraindications are identified by a specialist, and a decision is made: is there really a need for it.

Drug-induced deep sleep allows doctors to perform lengthy and complex surgical interventions. Usually the procedure is used in pediatric surgery, when pain relief is vital., for example, with severe congenital heart defects and other abnormalities. However, anesthesia is not such a harmless procedure.

Preparation for the procedure

It is wiser to prepare the baby for the upcoming anesthesia in just 2-5 days. To do this, he is prescribed hypnotics and sedatives that affect metabolic processes.

About half an hour before anesthesia, the baby can be given atropine, pipolfen or promedol - drugs that enhance the effect of the main anesthetic drugs and help avoid their negative effects.

Before performing the manipulation, the baby is given an enema and the contents are removed from the bladder. 4 hours before the operation, the intake of food and water is completely excluded, since during the intervention vomiting may begin, in which vomit can enter the organs of the respiratory system and cause respiratory arrest. In some cases, gastric lavage is done.

The procedure is performed using a mask or a special tube that is placed in the trachea.. Together with oxygen, anesthetic medicine comes out of the device. In addition, anesthetics are administered intravenously to alleviate the condition of a small patient.

How does anesthesia affect a child?

Currently the probability of severe consequences for the child's body from anesthesia is 1-2%. However, many parents are sure that anesthesia will adversely affect their baby.

Due to the peculiarities of the growing organism, this type of anesthesia in children proceeds somewhat differently. Most often, clinically proven drugs of a new generation are used for anesthesia, which are allowed in pediatric practice. Such drugs have a minimum of side effects and are quickly removed from the body. That is why the effect of anesthesia on the child, as well as any negative consequences, are minimized.

Thus, it is possible to predict the duration of exposure to the used dose of the drug, and, if necessary, repeat anesthesia.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, anesthesia facilitates the patient's condition and can help the surgeon's work.

The introduction of nitric oxide, the so-called "laughing gas", into the body leads to the fact that children who have undergone surgery under general anesthesia most often do not remember anything.

Diagnosis of complications

Even if a small patient is well prepared before the operation, this does not guarantee the absence of complications associated with anesthesia. That is why specialists should be aware of all possible negative effects of drugs, common dangerous consequences, probable causes, as well as ways to prevent and eliminate them.

Adequate and timely detection of complications that have arisen after the use of anesthesia plays a huge role. During the operation, as well as after it, the anesthesiologist must carefully monitor the condition of the baby.

To do this, the specialist takes into account all the manipulations performed, and also enters the results of the analyzes into a special card.

The map should include:

• heart rate indicators;
• breathing rate;
• temperature readings;
• the amount of blood transfused and other indicators.

These data are strictly painted by the hour. Such measures will allow any violations to be detected in time and quickly eliminate them..

Early consequences

The effect of general anesthesia on the child's body depends on the individual characteristics of the patient. Most often, the complications that arise after the baby returns to consciousness are not much different from the reaction to anesthesia in adults.

The most commonly observed negative effects are:

• the appearance of allergies, anaphylaxis, Quincke's edema;
• disorder of the heart, arrhythmia, incomplete blockade of the bundle of His;
• increased weakness, drowsiness. Most often, such conditions disappear on their own, after 1-2 hours;
• increase in body temperature. It is considered normal, however, if the mark reaches 38 ° C, there is a possibility of infectious complications. Having identified the cause of this condition, the doctor prescribes antibiotics;
• nausea and vomiting. These symptoms are treated with antiemetics such as Cerucal;
• headaches, feeling of heaviness and squeezing in the temples. Usually they do not require special treatment, however, with prolonged pain symptoms, the specialist prescribes painkillers;
• pain in the postoperative wound. A common consequence after surgery. To eliminate it, antispasmodics or analgesics can be used;
• fluctuations in blood pressure. Usually observed as a result of a large blood loss or after a blood transfusion;
• falling into a coma.

Any drug used for local or general anesthesia can be toxic to the patient's liver tissues and lead to liver dysfunction.

Side effects of drugs used for anesthesia depend on the specific drug. Knowing about all the negative effects of the drug, you can avoid many dangerous consequences, one of which is liver damage:

• Ketamine, often used in anesthesia, can provoke psychomotor overexcitation, seizures, hallucinations.
• Sodium oxybutyrate. May cause convulsions when used in high doses;
• Succinylcholine and drugs based on it often provoke bradycardia, which threatens to stop the activity of the heart - asystole;
• Muscle relaxants used for general pain relief can lower blood pressure.

Fortunately, serious consequences are extremely rare.

Late Complications

Even if the surgical intervention went without complications, there were no reactions to the means used, this does not mean that there was no negative impact on the children's body. Late complications may appear after some time, even after several years..

Dangerous long-term effects include:

• cognitive impairment: memory disorder, difficulty in logical thinking, difficulty concentrating on objects. In these cases, it is difficult for the child to study at school, he is often distracted, cannot read books for a long time;
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. These disorders are expressed by excessive impulsivity, a tendency to frequent injuries, restlessness;
• susceptibility to headaches, migraine attacks, which are difficult to drown out with painkillers;
• frequent dizziness;
• the appearance of convulsive contractions in the muscles of the legs;
• slowly progressive pathologies of the liver and kidneys.

The safety and comfort of the surgical intervention, as well as the absence of any dangerous consequences, often depend on the professionalism of the anesthetist and surgeon.

Consequences for babies 1-3 years old

Due to the fact that the central nervous system in young children is not fully formed, the use of general anesthesia can adversely affect their development and general condition. In addition to Attention Deficit Disorder, Pain Relief Can Cause Brain Disorder, and lead to the following complications:

• Slow physical development. Medicines used in anesthesia can disrupt the formation of the parathyroid gland, which is responsible for the growth of the baby. In these cases, he may lag behind in growth, but subsequently is able to catch up with his peers.
• Disturbance of psychomotor development. Such children learn to read late, it is difficult to remember numbers, they pronounce words incorrectly, and build sentences.
• epileptic seizures. These violations are quite rare, however, there have been several cases of epilepsy after surgical interventions using general anesthesia.

Is it possible to prevent complications

It is impossible to say for sure whether there will be any consequences after the operation in babies, as well as at what time and how they can manifest themselves. However, you can reduce the likelihood of negative reactions in the following ways:

• Before the operation, the child's body must be fully examined by passing all the tests prescribed by the doctor.
• After surgery, you should use drugs that improve cerebral circulation, as well as vitamin and mineral complexes prescribed by a neuropathologist. Most often, B vitamins, piracetam, cavinton are used.
• Carefully monitor the condition of the baby. After the operation, parents need to monitor its development even after some time. If any deviations appear, it is worth visiting a specialist once again to eliminate possible risks.

Having decided on the procedure, the specialist compares the need to perform it with the possible harm. Even after learning about the likely complications, you should not refuse surgical procedures: not only health, but also the life of the child may depend on this. The most important thing is to be attentive to his health and not self-medicate.

Numerous rumors and myths surrounding this topic prevent them from making an adequate decision. Which of them is true and which is speculation? To comment on the main parental fears associated with pediatric anesthesia, we asked one of the leading experts in this field, head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Therapy of the Moscow Research Institute of Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, professor, doctor of medical sciences Andrey Lekmanov.

Myth: “Anesthesia is dangerous. What if my baby does not wake up after the operation?

In fact A: This happens very rarely. According to world statistics, this happens in 1 out of 100,000 elective surgeries. In this case, most often the fatal outcome is associated not with the reaction to anesthesia, but with the surgical intervention itself.

In order for everything to go smoothly, any operation (with the exception of emergency cases, when hours or even minutes count) is preceded by thorough preparation, during which the doctor assesses the health of a small patient and his readiness for anesthesia, focusing on the mandatory examination of the child and studies that include: complete blood count, blood clotting test, urinalysis, ECG, etc. If a child has ARVI, high fever, exacerbation of a concomitant disease, elective surgery is postponed for at least a month.

Myth: “Modern anesthetics are good for sleeping, but they are bad for pain relief. A child can feel everything

In fact: Such a situation is excluded by the exact choice of the dosage of the surgical anesthetic, which is calculated based on the individual parameters of the child, the main of which is weight.

But that's not all. Today, no operation is performed without monitoring the condition of a small patient with the help of special sensors attached to his body, which evaluate the pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure and body temperature. Many children's hospitals in our country have the most modern technology, including monitors that measure the depth of anesthesia, the degree of relaxation (muscle relaxation) of the patient and allow with a high degree of accuracy to track the slightest deviations in the condition of a small patient during the operation.

Experts never tire of repeating: the main purpose of anesthesia is to make sure that the child is not present at his own operation, whether it is a long-term surgical intervention or a small but traumatic diagnostic study.

Myth: “Inhalation anesthesia is yesterday. The most modern - intravenous "

In fact: 60–70% of surgical interventions for children are performed using inhalation (hardware-mask) anesthesia, in which the child receives an anesthetic in the form of an inhalation mixture while breathing on his own. This type of anesthesia eliminates or significantly reduces the need for complex combinations of potent pharmacological agents characteristic of intravenous anesthesia and is characterized by much greater room for maneuver for the anesthetist and finer control of the depth of anesthesia.

Myth: “If possible, it is better to do without anesthesia. In any case, during dental procedures "

In fact: There is no need to be afraid to treat a child's teeth under general anesthesia. If the treatment is associated with surgical intervention (tooth extraction, abscesses, etc.), with a large amount of dental procedures (treatment of multiple caries, pulpitis, periodontitis, etc.), with the use of equipment and instruments that can scare the child, without anesthesia is indispensable. In addition, this allows the dentist to focus specifically on treatment, without being distracted by calming the little patient.

However, only a clinic that has a state license for anesthesiology and resuscitation, which is equipped with all the necessary equipment and has a staff of qualified, experienced pediatric anesthesiologists and resuscitators, has the right to use general anesthesia in the dental treatment of children. It won't be difficult to check this.

Myth: “Narcosis damages brain cells, causing a violation of cognitive (cognitive) functions in a child, reducing his school performance, memory and attention”

In fact: . And although in most cases this does not affect memory, it is with the conduct of general anesthesia that impaired cognitive functions are often associated in children and adults who have undergone extensive, time-consuming surgery. Usually, cognitive abilities are restored within a few days after anesthesia. And here a lot depends on the skill of the anesthesiologist, on how adequately he performed anesthesia, as well as on the individual characteristics of the small patient.

Most surgical operations today are unthinkable without adequate anesthesia. Despite the fact that general anesthesia has been successfully used in pediatrics for a long time, parents are afraid of the prospect of having it performed on a small baby - they are afraid of possible dangers and complications after surgery, they are worried about the consequences for the child. Parents should be aware of the intricacies of the procedure and contraindications to it.

Some manipulations with a child cannot be performed without general anesthesia

General anesthesia is a special state of the body in which, under the influence of special preparations, the patient falls into sleep, there is a complete loss of consciousness and sensitivity is turned off. Children do not tolerate any medical manipulations, therefore, during serious operations, it is necessary to “turn off” the baby’s consciousness so that he does not feel pain and does not remember what is happening - all this can cause severe stress. Anesthesia is also needed by the doctor - diverting attention to the reaction of the child can lead to errors and serious complications.

The child's body has its own physiological and anatomical features - the ratio of height, weight and body surface area changes significantly as they grow older. It is advisable for children under three years of age to administer the first drugs in a familiar environment and in the presence of their parents. It is preferable to carry out induction anesthesia at this age with the help of a special toy mask, diverting attention from unpleasant sensations.

Carrying out mask anesthesia for a child

As he grows older, the baby tolerates manipulations more calmly - a child of 5-6 years old can be involved in induction anesthesia - for example, invite the child to hold the mask with his hands or blow into the anesthesia mask - after exhalation, a deep breath of the drug will follow. It is important to choose the right dosage of the drug, since the child's body reacts sensitively to exceeding the dose - the likelihood of complications in the form of respiratory depression and overdose increases.

Preparation for anesthesia and necessary tests

General anesthesia requires parents to carefully prepare the baby. It is necessary to examine the child in advance and pass the necessary tests. As a rule, a general blood and urine test, a study of the coagulation system, an ECG, and a pediatrician's opinion on the general state of health are required. On the eve of the operation, a consultation with an anesthesiologist is required, who will perform general anesthesia. The specialist will examine the child, clarify the absence of contraindications, find out the exact body weight to calculate the required dosage and answer all questions of interest to parents. It is important to make sure that there is no runny nose - nasal congestion is a contraindication to anesthesia. Another important contraindication to anesthesia is fever for unknown reasons.

Before general anesthesia, the child should be examined by doctors

The stomach of the baby during anesthesia should be completely empty. Vomiting during general anesthesia is dangerous - children have very narrow airways, so the likelihood of complications in the form of aspiration of vomit is very high. Newborns and infants under one year of age receive the last breast 4 hours before surgery. Children under 1 year of age, who are bottle-fed, maintain a hungry pause of 6 hours. Children over 5 years of age take their last meal the night before, and it is contraindicated to drink plain water 4 hours before anesthesia.

How is anesthesia performed in childhood

The anesthesiologist always tries to minimize the discomfort from anesthesia for the child. To do this, premedication is carried out before the operation - the baby is offered sedatives that relieve anxiety and fear. Children under the age of three or four are already in the ward receiving drugs that put them in a state of half sleep and complete relaxation. Small children under 5 years of age are very painful to part with their parents, so it is advisable to be with the child before he falls asleep.

Children older than 6 years of age usually tolerate anesthesia well and arrive in the operating room conscious. The doctor brings a transparent mask to the child's face, through which oxygen and a special gas are supplied, causing anesthesia for children. As a rule, the child falls asleep within a minute after the first deep breath.

Introduction to anesthesia occurs in different ways depending on the age of the child.

After falling asleep, the doctor regulates the depth of anesthesia and carefully monitors vital signs - measures blood pressure, monitors the condition of the child's skin, evaluates the work of the heart. In the case when general anesthesia is performed on an infant up to a year old, it is important to prevent excessive cooling or overheating of the baby.

Anesthesia for children under one year old

Most doctors try to delay the moment of introducing general anesthesia to the baby up to a year as far as possible. This is due to the fact that in the first months of life there is an active development of most organs and systems (including the brain), which at this stage are vulnerable to adverse factors.

General anesthesia for a 1 year old child

But in case of urgent need, anesthesia is also done at this age - anesthesia will do less harm than the absence of the necessary treatment. The greatest difficulties in children under one year old are associated with observing a hungry pause. According to statistics, infants under one year of age tolerate anesthesia well.

Consequences and complications of anesthesia for children

General anesthesia is a rather serious procedure that carries a certain risk of complications and consequences, even when taking into account contraindications. It is believed that anesthesia can damage neuronal connections in the brain, contributes to an increase in intracranial. At risk for the occurrence of unpleasant consequences are children under 2-3 years of age and younger, especially those with diseases of the nervous system. However, it should be noted that such symptoms in most cases developed with the introduction of outdated anesthetics, and modern anesthetics have minimal side effects. In most cases, unpleasant symptoms disappeared some time after the operation.

Children under 2-3 years of age are the most difficult to tolerate anesthesia

Of the possible complications, the most dangerous is the development of anaphylactic shock, which occurs when you are allergic to the administered drug. Aspiration of gastric contents is a complication that occurs more often in emergency operations when there was no time for appropriate preparation.

It is very important to choose a competent anesthesiologist who will evaluate contraindications, minimize the risks of developing unpleasant consequences, choose the right drug and its dosage, and also quickly take action in case of complications.

The subject of anesthesia is surrounded by a considerable number of myths, and all of them are quite frightening. Parents, faced with the need to treat a child under anesthesia, as a rule, worry and fear negative consequences. Vladislav Krasnov, an anesthesiologist at the Beauty Line group of medical companies, will help Letidor figure out what is true and what is a delusion in the 11 most famous myths about children's anesthesia.

Myth 1: the child will not wake up after anesthesia

This is the most terrible consequence that moms and dads are afraid of. And quite fair for a loving and caring parent. Medical statistics, which mathematically determines the ratio of successful and unsuccessful procedures, are also in anesthesiology. A certain percentage, albeit fortunately negligible, of failures, including fatal ones, does exist.

This percentage in modern anesthesiology according to American statistics is as follows: 2 fatal complications per 1 million procedures, in Europe it is 6 such complications per 1 million anesthesias.

Complications in anesthesiology happen, as in any field of medicine. But the meager percentage of such complications is a reason for optimism in both young patients and their parents.

Myth 2: the child will wake up during the operation

With the use of modern methods of anesthesia and its monitoring, it is possible with a probability close to 100% to ensure that the patient does not wake up during the operation.

Modern anesthetics and anesthesia control methods (for example, BIS technology or entropy methods) make it possible to accurately dose drugs and track its depth. Today there are real opportunities to get feedback on the depth of anesthesia, its quality, and the expected duration.

Myth 3: The anesthesiologist will “do a prick” and leave the operating room

This is a fundamental misconception about the work of an anesthesiologist. An anesthesiologist is a qualified specialist, certified and certified, who is responsible for his work. He is obliged to be inseparably during the entire operation next to his patient.

The main task of the anesthesiologist is to ensure the safety of the patient during any surgical intervention.

He cannot "take a shot and leave," as his parents fear.

Also deeply wrong is the ordinary idea of ​​an anesthesiologist as a "not quite a doctor". This is a doctor, a medical specialist who, firstly, provides anelgesia - that is, the absence of pain, secondly - the comfort of the patient in the operating room, thirdly - the complete safety of the patient, and fourthly - the calm work of the surgeon.

Protecting the patient is the goal of the anesthesiologist.

Myth 4: Anesthesia destroys a child's brain cells

Anesthesia, on the contrary, serves to ensure that brain cells (and not only brain cells) are not destroyed during surgery. Like any medical procedure, it is performed according to strict indications. For anesthesia, these are surgical interventions that, without anesthesia, will be detrimental to the patient. Since these operations are very painful, if the patient is awake during them, the harm from them will be incomparably greater than from operations that take place under anesthesia.

Anesthetics undoubtedly affect the central nervous system - they depress it, causing sleep. This is the meaning of their use. But today, in conditions of compliance with the rules of admission, monitoring of anesthesia with the help of modern equipment, anesthetics are quite safe.

The action of the drugs is reversible, and many of them have antidotes, by introducing which the doctor can immediately interrupt the effect of anesthesia.

Myth 5: Anesthesia will cause an allergy in a child

This is not a myth, but a fair fear: anesthetics, like any medications and products, even plant pollen, can cause an allergic reaction, which, unfortunately, is quite difficult to predict.

But an anesthetist has the skills, drugs, and technology to deal with the effects of an allergy.

Myth 6: Inhalation anesthesia is much more harmful than intravenous anesthesia

Parents are afraid that the inhalation anesthesia machine will damage the child's mouth and throat. But when the anesthesiologist chooses the method of anesthesia (inhalation, intravenous, or a combination of both), it comes from the fact that this should cause minimal harm to the patient. The endotracheal tube, which is inserted into the child's trachea during anesthesia, serves to protect the trachea from foreign objects: fragments of teeth, saliva, blood, stomach contents.

All invasive (invading the body) actions of the anesthesiologist are aimed at protecting the patient from possible complications.

Modern methods of inhalation anesthesia involve not only intubation of the trachea, that is, the placement of a tube into it, but also the use of a laryngeal mask, which is less traumatic.

Myth 7: Anesthesia causes hallucinations

This is not a delusion, but a completely fair remark. Many of today's anesthetics are hallucinogenic drugs. But other drugs that are administered in combination with anesthetics are capable of neutralizing this effect.

For example, the well-known drug ketamine is an excellent, reliable, stable anesthetic, but it causes hallucinations. Therefore, a benzodiazepine is administered along with it, which eliminates this side effect.

Myth 8: Anesthesia is instantly addictive, and the child will become a drug addict

This is a myth, and a rather absurd one at that. In modern anesthesia, drugs are used that are not addictive.

Moreover, medical interventions, especially with the help of any devices, surrounded by doctors in special clothes, do not cause any positive emotions in the child and the desire to repeat this experience.

Parents' fears are unfounded.

For anesthesia in children, drugs are used that have a very short duration of action - no more than 20 minutes. They do not cause the child any feelings of joy or euphoria. In contrast, the child using these anesthetics has virtually no memory of events since anesthesia. Today it is the gold standard of anesthesia.

Myth 9: the consequences of anesthesia - deterioration of memory and attention, poor health - will remain with the child for a long time

Disorders of the psyche, attention, intelligence and memory - that's what worries parents when they think about the consequences of anesthesia.

Modern anesthetics - short-acting and yet very well controlled - are eliminated from the body as soon as possible after their administration.

Myth 10: anesthesia can always be replaced with local anesthesia

If a child is to undergo a surgical operation, which, due to its pain, is performed under anesthesia, refusing it is many times more dangerous than resorting to it.

Of course, any operation can be performed under local anesthesia - this was the case even 100 years ago. But in this case, the child receives a huge amount of toxic local anesthetics, he sees what is happening in the operating room, he understands the potential danger.

For the still unformed psyche, such stress is much more dangerous than sleeping after the administration of an anesthetic.

Myth 11: anesthesia should not be given to a child under a certain age

Here the opinions of parents differ: someone believes that anesthesia is acceptable no earlier than 10 years old, someone even pushes the border of acceptable to 13-14 years old. But this is a delusion.

Treatment under anesthesia in modern medical practice is carried out at any age, if indicated.

Unfortunately, a serious illness can affect even a newborn baby. If he is going to have a surgical operation during which he will need protection, then the anesthesiologist will provide protection regardless of the age of the patient.