How do children recover from anesthesia? What is the danger of general anesthesia for a child

Operations, anesthesia - an unpleasant page in the life of some people. Adult patients come out of anesthesia in different ways: some easily, some not so much. But adults are already aware of their position and can more or less adequately assess the situation in which they are. In children, in addition to the severity of the state of health itself, the feeling of pain, there is also a feeling of loss that is incomprehensible to them.

It is worth saying a little about anesthesia as such. Modern anesthesia is not those gas substances that could give many complications in the future. The risk is always present, but modern drugs are reliable and tested. But, of course, much depends on the qualifications and experience of the anesthesiologist. There are several types of anesthesia: inhalation, intramuscular and intravenous. Which method of drug administration the anesthesiologist chooses depends on several parameters: on the wishes of the surgeon, the duration and complexity of the operation, the patient's chronic diseases, as well as on the age and body weight of the small patient. So, how do children recover from anesthesia? For them, this is an incomprehensible state: a feeling of pain, loss in space and time. This is a huge stress for a child. Close adults should be there when he wakes up.

It is important to tune in positively and try to smile at the baby. You need to speak in a calm, quiet, measured voice. The condition of a loved one, especially mom or dad, is very quickly transmitted to the child. Therefore, a positive and serene attitude is very important at this moment. You can drink a sedative yourself before the child wakes up so that there are no tears, trembling in the voice from adults. It is worth explaining to the child in accessible words what happened to him, be sure to repeat: that, everything will be fine; that there was nothing wrong. If possible, it is better to dim the lights and exclude any extraneous noise in the room. Since after anesthesia, all feelings are aggravated and bright light will hurt the eyes, which can cause crying. The duration of recovery from anesthesia is about two hours.

Now the risk of complications after anesthesia is minimal, as the drugs used are constantly being tested and updated. Moreover, it is worth considering that the doctors working as anesthetists have a fairly high qualification. It is worth repeating - a child after anesthesia needs constant attention. All his thoughts should be distracted by some extraneous topics in order to quickly help him get out of this state. Older kids can come up with and tell a fairy tale-allegory. For example, about how an evil sorceress bewitched a little princess, and a noble knight carved a black amulet with which the sorceress bewitched the girl and made her beautiful and healthy again.

It is much more difficult for very young children to endure anesthesia and get out of it, as their usual daily routine, the sleep-eating regimen, gets lost. Since, in addition to not eating and drinking 2-3 hours before anesthesia, even after it, depending on the condition of the baby, it is not recommended to eat and drink water for about three to four hours. Therefore, it is important to think in advance: what favorite toys should be taken into the ward in order to distract the child; what books. Maybe you should take a night light with stars projecting on the ceiling. Usually they come with light music. This will distract and calm the little patient.

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.

Dental procedures are often painful and require anesthesia. Today, medicine has a huge arsenal of pain relief methods, they can be selected taking into account a wide variety of contraindications, allergic reactions and the patient's pain threshold. For individual light manipulations, anesthesia is not required, but it can be done if a psychological factor is in effect. Many are afraid of the very sight of a dentist and his tools. Such patients may be prescribed pain relief, even if the operation itself is painless.

Anesthesia methods used in dentistry

local anesthesia

General anesthesia

Nitrous Oxide Mask

Other Methods

Varieties of local anesthesia

There are several types of local anesthesia, depending on where the drug is injected, the time and properties of its effect. The easiest to use is the application method. It is also known as freezing.

A frequently used type of local anesthesia is the infiltration method (what drugs are used for topical anesthesia in dentistry?). It is more suitable for the treatment of upper row teeth. The anesthetic is administered to the patient near the root apex by means of an injection. This method is indicated when one tooth is supposed to be treated.

How long does anesthesia last?

Types of anesthetics and their features

Articaine series

mepivacaines

What can I do to make the anesthesia wear off faster?

To avoid unnecessary worries, ask the dentist in advance how long the effect of the anesthetic applied by him, the numbness of the mouth and tongue, passes. To make anesthesia go faster, you need to follow a few simple rules.

Let's talk about how long the anesthesia of the tooth goes after its treatment or extraction, as this issue worries patients who experience discomfort after treatment.

As more and more new medicines appear in our world, including pain relief, dental treatment has ceased to be a procedure that many people put off until the last minute. But at the same time, the use of anesthesia in dentistry is associated with the fact that after its use, numbness in the oral cavity can persist for quite a long time. This creates a certain discomfort for the patient, deprives him of the opportunity to fully talk and eat.

When you ask your dentist how long anesthesia lasts after a tooth is removed or treated, or after a filling, expect the answer to depend on a variety of factors. The doctor will explain that different medications will be required for different durations of treatment. In addition, how long tooth anesthesia lasts in dentistry is determined by the individual characteristics of the body, as well as methods of anesthesia. Let's talk about each of these factors in detail.

Methods

How long does anesthesia last after tooth treatment using various methods? The fastest way to get rid of discomfort is if the application method was used for treatment. Here, a special gel is used for anesthesia, which is applied to the mucous membrane. Freezing time using this method will be no more than fifteen minutes.

But if it comes to how much the anesthesia administered with a needle acts on the tooth during treatment, then everything will depend on the medication chosen by the doctor. We talked about all types of anesthesia in dental treatment in another article on our website.

Medicines

How long anesthesia lasts after tooth treatment depends on the remedy chosen by the doctor. Here is a list of medicines used for this purpose:

Novocaine. The duration is about fifteen minutes.
Lidocaine - half an hour to an hour.
Mepivacaine - lasts about 45 minutes.
Artikain - hour.
Bupivacaine - how long the anesthesia with the use of this drug leaves is determined by the dosage. Sometimes it lasts up to six hours.

For each case, depending on its complexity, both the drug and the method of anesthesia are chosen, so do not hesitate to ask the doctor what he uses and what you should expect accordingly.

Factors

The fact that determines how long the anesthesia of the tooth passes through is also determined by a combination of certain conditions. Here they are:

If there is a focus of inflammation at the injection site, the effect of the anesthetic will not last long.
Pain medications may contain substances that constrict blood vessels. In this case, the effect of the drug will last much longer than if there were no such substances in the composition.
The age of the patient is also a determining factor. How many hours the drug releases in older patients, and when the freezing will pass in younger patients, are completely different indicators. In an aged patient, the susceptibility to this kind of medication is much lower.
Diseases of the liver and kidneys are also the answer to the question of why numbness does not go away for a long time after tooth extraction or treatment.

What to do to quickly pass the anesthesia of the tooth

Here's how to quickly get off the effects of drugs aimed at pain relief during treatment at the dentist:

In advance, before visiting a doctor, give up alcohol, fatty foods and taking medications not prescribed by a specialist.
If the treatment was simple (caries, whitening, grinding), a light massage in the problem area and warm drinks will help to quickly remove anesthesia
But after removal, it is categorically not recommended to resort to the methods from the previous paragraph, as well as after the treatment of inflammatory processes

If anesthesia after tooth treatment does not go away for a very long time, this is an occasion to re-apply to the dentist, and you will also have to visit a neurologist. To relieve numbness, a course of physiotherapy will be prescribed.

How long can you eat after dental anesthesia

There is no single answer to the question of how much you can not eat after applying anesthesia. In principle, eating itself does not affect the effect of the drug in any way, the question here is rather what kind of treatment was performed. For example, after removal, it is better to refrain from drinking for forty minutes, and from eating for three to four hours. As for the anesthesia itself, it is better to refrain from eating during its action because the oral cavity is now completely insensitive to external factors and it is very easy, for example, to bite your cheek or tongue while chewing, or to burn yourself if the food or drink is too hot, and, what's more, you don't even notice it.

The duration of anesthesia depending on the methods and drugs

The time for which the action of the anesthetic passes after tooth treatment is individual for each patient. Different organisms excrete the medicinal substance at different rates, they react differently to the pharmacological action of the anesthetic drug. If we discard individual characteristics and talk about average values, then in many respects the time of discharge of anesthesia depends on the drug used.

All dental anesthetics according to the duration of action can be divided into three groups:

A short-acting drug (this includes Novocaine).
Medium duration (Articaine, Lidocaine, Prilocaine, Trimecaine).
Means for long-term anesthesia (Bupivacaine).

Old generation anesthetics are practically not used at the moment due to their side effects, but the average effect of Novocaine is 15-20 minutes, Lidocaine - 30 minutes-1 hour. The action of Mepivacaine on average will pass in 45 minutes, Articaine - in 1 hour. The most powerful anesthetic in dentistry is Bupivacaine. It is able to block sensitivity for more than two hours, how much depends on the dosage. In rare cases, anesthesia with bupivacaine leaves after 6 hours.

Factors affecting the duration of anesthesia

The period of time during which the action of anesthesia of the tooth passes depends on a variety of factors that can be taken into account for the speedy departure from the “freeze”. These include:

Inflammation at the injection site. Anesthesia preparations are alkaline compounds, and in the focus of inflammation, an acidic environment. As you know, acid neutralizes the action of alkali, therefore, anesthesia in the presence of an inflammatory focus disappears very quickly, in some cases it may not work at all.
The presence of vasoconstrictors in the composition of the anesthetic. Vasoconstrictors are substances that constrict blood vessels, the most commonly used are epinephrine and norepinephrine. Narrowed blood vessels slow down the absorption of the drug from the injection site, due to which the effect of anesthesia is prolonged and the numbness disappears much longer, while it directly depends on how much vasoconstrictor is added per unit volume of anesthetic.

Patient's age. According to statistics, older people are less susceptible to the effects of anesthetic, so their numbness goes away much faster after treatment.
Chronic diseases of the kidneys and liver. The metabolism of anesthetic drugs occurs in these organs, so the time of disintegration of the drug depends on their work. The disease contributes to a decrease in the speed of the organ, so the effect of anesthesia of the tooth lasts longer.
Anesthesia technique. Properly performed anesthesia allows you to achieve long-term pain relief. If the anesthesia technique is violated, for example, an incorrectly chosen injection site, the anesthetic will not reach all the necessary nerve endings, and the numbness will go away faster after treatment. In this case, the risk of pain during dental treatment increases.
Type of anesthesia. Numbness passes faster after infiltration anesthesia of the tooth.

The average rate of how long a tooth freeze lasts

We can talk about this as a rather theoretical phenomenon. And even if we imagine that technically the anesthesia was carried out perfectly and the maximum analgesic effect was achieved, and the patient's body does not affect this process in any way, the time that the tooth freeze lasts depends on the injected substance.

Lidocaine, often used at a free government appointment, with its low therapeutic efficacy, is also distinguished by its low duration of action. The feeling of numbness completely disappears after 15-20 minutes, so it is necessary to start treatment almost immediately after the introduction of the anesthetic. Articaine, which is popular today, with any type of anesthesia, can maintain its effect for up to one and a half to two hours, and in rare cases it can have its effect up to 6 hours.

Thus, how long anesthesia takes in dentistry directly depends on the injected substance, therefore, if a decrease in tongue function and a change in appearance are unacceptable for you, you should notify the doctor about this in order to change the drug or anesthesia technique.

Factors affecting how long anesthesia lasts

The presence of inflammation at the injection site. Often, during treatment, the anesthetic is infiltrated directly into the inflamed focus, where the drug quickly breaks down and is neutralized. Therefore, such anesthesia fades much faster, however, and its effectiveness is reduced.
The presence of a vasoconstrictor in the solution. One of the direct appointments of adrenaline in anesthetic is vasoconstriction at the injection site, a decrease in the resorption of the drug and an increase in the duration of action. If there is a vasoconstrictor in the pain medication, the numbness will go away later.
The age of the patient affects how long the tooth freeze lasts. Often, the anesthetic performs worse when administered to elderly patients, so the effect wears off faster.
Diseases of the internal organs, in particular, the liver and kidneys. Since the metabolism of all painkillers takes place precisely in these systems, the rate of decay and removal of the anesthetic from the body directly depends on their state. With their defeat, the duration of anesthesia increases.
The type of anesthesia administered. Infiltration anesthesia is characterized by a shorter exposure time, since the solution is injected directly into tissues rich in blood vessels, from where it is quickly excreted into the vascular bed and neutralized. With the conduction method of anesthesia, it is difficult to predict how long the anesthesia goes through, but one way or another, the numbness disappears much later.
The correctness of the technique. If the doctor competently carried out the entire manipulation, of course, the effect of the anesthetic is maximum and lasts longer. If the technique is violated, the effect will pass earlier, but the treatment, quite possibly, will become less pleasant.

Anesthesia methods used in dentistry

In dentistry, various types of anesthesia are used: both local and general. Methods of pain relief can be divided into pharmacological and non-pharmacological. Most often, painkillers and methods operate according to the same principle - the conductivity of the nerve canal is leveled, that is, the nerve impulse is extinguished.

local anesthesia

This method is used by dentists in most cases. As a rule, having found out from the patient whether he has an allergy to drugs, chronic diseases and other problems that affect the choice of an anesthetic method, the doctor selects the most effective means to make the intervention painless. Currently, most often resort to freezing the area of the procedure or the introduction of an anesthetic drug by injection into the gum.

General anesthesia

In dentistry, general anesthesia is quite rare. Since this method has a significant impact on consciousness, all systems and organs of the body, doctors without special need try not to use general anesthesia. The average time spent under anesthesia is six hours. Apply general anesthesia, during which the patient is unconscious, for major interventions. Basically, these are maxillofacial operations.

Nitrous Oxide Mask

Most often, this method is used to treat children and patients who cannot overcome their fear of the dentist in order to relieve discomfort. Inhaling nitrous oxide, the patient remains conscious, he breathes independently, reflexes and the ability to talk are preserved. This procedure is not used as an anesthetic, the patient remains sensitive to pain, so this method is used in combination with another type of anesthesia.

Other Methods

Other methods of anesthesia used in dentistry include non-pharmacological methods of pain relief. Currently, anesthesia is carried out by the following methods:

audioanalgesia - a psychotropic, distracting agent using a white noise generator;
electroanalgesia - the impact on certain centers of the cerebral cortex by electrical impulses of high frequency;
computer anesthesia - the supply of anesthetic is controlled by a computer;
hypnosis - superficial anesthesia through hypnotic influence.

Varieties of local anesthesia

For the application method, various gels, sprays and other topical agents are used. They give a short effect and are quite safe for the body.
A commonly used type of local anesthesia is the infiltration method. It is more suitable for the treatment of upper row teeth. The anesthetic is administered to the patient near the root apex by means of an injection. This method is indicated when one tooth is supposed to be treated.
When several teeth need to be anesthetized, conduction anesthesia is used. This method of anesthesia is also used for tooth extraction, drainage of purulent foci, treatment of abscesses and other manipulations that require a long time and anesthesia of the entire nerve branch.
The most powerful means of local anesthesia is the stem method. The drug is injected into the region of the base of the skull. This method is used for serious surgical interventions, dangerous injuries of the jaw or cheekbones, neuralgia of the facial nerve. It takes place exclusively in a hospital.

How long does anesthesia last?

Finding themselves in the dentist's chair, patients are interested in the question of how long the anesthesia wears off. How long the anesthetic lasts depends on many factors. First of all, it is a type of medication used for pain relief. In addition to the features of the main active ingredient of the drug, it may contain additional ones that affect vascular tone.

If the anesthetic contains vasoconstrictive components, then its action lasts longer than in their absence. Anesthesia normally disappears within half an hour, and residual effects, for example, if the tongue is numb, will disappear 2-4 hours after the end of treatment.

Types of anesthetics and their features

All types of drugs can be divided according to how long their action lasts. Allocate means of short action, medium and means for long-term pain relief. Regular district clinics continue to use older generation drugs such as novocaine and lidocaine.

Modern drugs are more often used in private clinics and offices. They are produced in cartridges, these are special reservoirs that are inserted into a syringe. Carpula injections are painless due to the thinness of the needle. In addition, this form of release does not imply contact of the drug with air, which means it ensures complete sterility. The advantages include the accuracy of the dosage of the drug and additional substances. The newest anesthetics to date are articaine and mepivacaine.

Articaine series

Articaine is the most commonly used and most effective drug in use today. It is produced under various names, with various additional substances that allow you to choose a medication for different categories of patients. Articaine is supplemented with epinephrine or norepinephrine, which gives the drug a vasoconstrictor effect. This helps to avoid unnecessary blood loss and cause minimal harm to the patient.

Articaine is 5-6 times more effective than lidocaine, and 2-3 times more effective than novocaine. Properly selected drugs and dosage of articaine can be used even in the treatment of patients with endocrine problems, cardiovascular diseases, as well as women during pregnancy and lactation.

mepivacaines

Mepivacaine drugs are available under various names, the most famous being Scandonest. Adrenaline is not added to it, so it is less effective than articaine. The substance mepivacaine itself has the property of constricting blood vessels. It is used to treat children, pregnant women, heart patients, as well as patients with individual intolerance to adrenaline and its derivatives.

What can I do to make the anesthesia wear off faster?

Before visiting the dental office for some time, you should refuse to take heavy food, alcoholic beverages. Also, you should not take medications unless they are drugs prescribed by a doctor and taken according to a certain scheme.
After simple dental interventions, a warm drink and light massaging in the numb area will help to quickly move away from freezing.
If the intervention was serious (tooth extraction, drainage, opening of the pulp), then neither drink nor touch the treatment area. You can not drink within an hour after the operation, and you should not eat for 4-5 hours.

If the effect of the painkiller does not go away for a very long time, then this is a reason for a second visit to a specialist. During the operation, any nerve could be affected. In such cases, physiotherapy is prescribed, and sometimes a consultation with a neurologist is required.

Application. A feature is a short impact. This type of anesthesia is available in the form of a spray or gel. It is used exclusively for minor dental procedures or for short periods of time. Also, application anesthesia can be used as an auxiliary, so that it is not painful to do deep anesthesia.
infiltration. An anesthetic of this type is administered by injection under the mucous membrane of the gums, intraosseously or under the periosteum. It is used during cleaning of the tooth canal. The effect lasts about 1 hour.
Conductor. This type of anesthetic drug is also administered by injection, however, into the region of the branches of the trigeminal nerve. During this procedure, the patient may experience pain, which should be reported to the doctor, after which he can give another injection that will eliminate the pain from anesthesia. Conduction anesthetics are used during manipulations with molars (treatment and extraction), gum surgery, nerve removal, long-term dental procedures.
Intraligamentary. The impact occurs only on one tooth, with which various manipulations will be carried out in the future. For this, an anesthetic is injected around the diseased tooth. As a rule, it is used in the removal of wisdom teeth or major dental operations. This will relieve the patient's excessive stress, as well as increase the effectiveness of other anesthesia.

For example, those who

allergic reactions

disturbances in the work of the stomach;
chills;

infection in the lungs;

09/20/10 13:26 (reply to: WIT)

09/19/10 02:06 PM (reply to: WIT)

09/19/10 12:58 pm (reply to: Piece of Positive)))

Congratulations!

09/19/10 09:41 (reply to: WIT)

09/18/10 10:43 PM (reply to: Alena9)

Thanks for support! Health to you!

09/18/10 10:42 PM (reply to: Piece of Positive)))

Here's what I suspect. I have chronic tonsillitis. Just a little throat. Thank you!

09/18/10 9:51 PM (reply to: WIT)

mine was 4 years old and we had 4 teeth under general anesthesia, there were no problems, the anesthesia was fruity, I quickly recovered from anesthesia. I vomited a little and everything is fine. But now I’m not afraid of dentists.

09/18/10 9:16 PM (reply to: WIT)

Don't worry... you have to choose what is more important... and more useful. Get treated! Bad teeth affect a lot. For example, my sore throats were often due to a focus of infection in the mouth.

And it all started when he fell at a year old and knocked out all the little white and so pretty teeth ... they cracked in half and soon crumbled, etc., etc. It's scary to remember...

09/18/10 20:57 (reply to: young :))

I know, I myself experienced 4 common ones, not counting the small ones. Health to you! Thank you!

09/18/10 20:56 (answer to: Piece of Positive)))

Thank you for your attention to my problem!

09/18/10 20:55 (reply to: Dozentin)

Thank you for your support!

My son was treated under general anesthesia at the age of 2… but what should I do? There was no way out ... Before all this, there was flux and silvering and much more ...

Now we are 10 years old. The permanent ones have already grown ... I'm very afraid that everything will be ok !!! TTT!!!

Almost everyone experiences fear when visiting the dentist. In addition, very often the process of treating dental diseases can bring discomfort and severe pain.

That is why it is difficult to imagine the work of a dentist without the use of local anesthesia. On the one hand, anesthesia eliminates all negative emotions and fear in the patient, on the other hand, it allows the doctor to work according to the treatment plan.

Appointment of anesthesia in dentistry

Many people ask themselves: when exactly and in what situations is anesthesia used in dentistry? Contrary to many misconceptions, it is used not only during tooth extraction.

In fact this is not true. Local anesthesia will allow the dentist to carry out all the manipulations in a calm environment, since he will be absolutely sure that the patient will not twitch at an unnecessary moment, since there will be no pain.

And the patient himself will be much calmer and more comfortable, because he will not constantly be in a state of expectation of pain.

Most often, local anesthesia is used during the treatment of gingivitis, paradontosis, periodontitis. However, it was also found that the third part of the pain effect itself creates the noise of the drilling machine.

It is difficult to find it in modern dental clinics, as lasers and sandblasters are increasingly used. Nevertheless, local anesthesia remains an integral part of the dental operation, which is inevitably accompanied by pain.

What does modern anesthesia offer?

Regardless of the type and form of the anesthetic, their principle of action is the same: the chosen agent acts directly on the nerve impulse, which is responsible for the pain.

A feature of anesthesia is that after a while it begins to dissolve and be excreted from the body, during which a person may feel pain, which will pass with successful treatment.

Several types of local anesthesia are currently used in dentistry:

Increases the effect of any type of anesthetic prior intake of valerian, peony, motherwort and other similar drugs.

In addition, there are features in the anesthesia of the upper and lower jaw. This is due to the structure of each of them (it is much easier to anesthetize the upper jaw).

Often numb in the complex and the cheek, and lips, and tongue. This is due to the fact that the exits of the nerves of these organs are in close proximity.

How long does it take for anesthesia to wear off?

The duration of action of the anesthetic depends on the type of drug:

For example, those who applied to the surface of the cheeks or gums, work for only a few minutes.
When anesthetic is injected into the upper jaw the freezing effect can last up to 2.5 hours, depending on the individual characteristics of the organism (the age of the patient, the activity of his kidneys and liver, and others), the depth of the injection and the amount of the drug that was injected.
When working with the lower teeth, the anesthetic needs to be injected more deeply. Because of this, the drug is excreted much more slowly and the freezing effect can last about 4 hours, sometimes longer, depending on which tooth is being anesthetized (the further it is, the more the drug is required).

Different people have different duration of action of anesthesia and this is due to the characteristics of his body. But if the numbness does not go away for more than a day, this is an occasion to consult a doctor.

allergic reactions

Very often, when using local anesthesia, individual intolerance to the components of complex anesthetics occurs.

Simply put, there is an allergy to anesthesia, in dentistry there are two types of reactions to an anesthetic:

contact dermatitis, which is characterized by swelling in the place where the drug was injected;
urticaria and anaphylactic shock - such a manifestation of allergies is quite rare.

That is why, when using anesthesia, the doctor conducts a test for the possibility of an allergic reaction to a particular drug.

Many patients confuse palpitations, chills, dizziness, and increased sweating with an allergic reaction. However, a true allergy is the result of a hypersensitive state of the body, which is caused by the ingestion of an allergen, which is one of the components.

Symptoms of such a reaction are:

All seriousness of an allergy is in many respects exaggerated. With a tendency to it, the doctor selects the drug in order to minimize unpleasant consequences. Possible itching and redness usually disappears after a few minutes.

Other possible troubles and consequences

In addition to allergies, other unpleasant side effects can occur. Sometimes it is not possible to avoid them, due to the fact that it is quite difficult to predict the body's reaction to a particular drug.

However, there is no need to worry about this, since the safety precautions of the clinic necessarily contain clauses that spell out the rules of conduct in the event that anesthesia does not go away for a long time after tooth treatment.

The most common side effects are:

disturbances in the work of the stomach;
pain in the throat and mouth, headache;
chills;
general malaise, which is accompanied by aching bones and drowsiness;
loss of ability to concentrate;
skin reactions: itching and redness.

More serious and dangerous consequences are possible, for example:

infection in the lungs;
damage to a healthy tooth, tongue, lip or their partial killing;
premature withdrawal of anesthesia.

In the event that the amount of the drug was incorrectly calculated, and there were violations in the procedure for administering the anesthetic, the following possible consequences:

To avoid these consequences, it is necessary to seek qualified help in time. To do this, the patient must clearly know the features of the action of the anesthetic that the doctor uses, namely, how long the tooth freezes and the time it takes to recover from anesthesia after the manipulations.

As a rule, sensitivity is fully restored within 2-4 hours. You need to consult a doctor for help if after this time (plus 30 minutes) the condition has not returned to normal.

The doctor needs to be told which remedy was used, whether other medications were taken, whether there are chronic diseases, in particular, kidney or heart failure, diabetes mellitus.

Based on these data, the doctor decides on the methods of providing assistance. In some cases, hospitalization or administration of an antidote may be required, which will eliminate the freezing effect within half an hour. It is also necessary to inform the doctor if the pain after the tooth is too strong.

Refraining from food for two hours after the frost has passed will help prevent the occurrence of complications. This rule, as well as other instructions of the doctor, is not recommended to be neglected, since in most cases unpleasant consequences arise precisely through the fault of the patient himself.

Why is general anesthesia dangerous for a child? Yes, in some cases it is necessary. Often - to save the life of a child.

But there are also negative aspects of the action of anesthesia. That is, it is like a coin that has two sides, like a double-edged sword.

Naturally, before the upcoming operation for the child, parents are trying to find out how dangerous this intervention is, what exactly is the danger of general anesthesia for the child.

Sometimes general anesthesia scares people even more than surgery. In many ways, this anxiety is fueled by numerous conversations around.

Surgeons who prepare the patient for surgery say little about anesthesia. And the main specialist in this matter - the anesthesiologist - advises and explains everything only shortly before the operation.

People are looking for information online. And here she is, to put it mildly, different. Who to believe?

Today we will talk about the types of anesthesia in pediatric medical practice, about the indications and contraindications for it, about the possible consequences. And, of course, we will dispel the myths in this topic.

Many medical manipulations are very painful, so even an adult cannot bear them without anesthesia. What is there to say about the child?

Yes, exposing a child to even a simple procedure without anesthesia is a huge stress for a small organism. This can cause neurotic disorders (tics, stuttering, sleep disturbances). It is also a lifelong fear of people in white coats.

That is why, in order to avoid discomfort and reduce stress from medical procedures, painkillers are used in surgery.

Actually anesthesia is called general anesthesia. This is an artificially created, controlled state in which there is no consciousness and no reaction to pain. At the same time, the vital functions of the body (respiration, heart function) are preserved.

Modern anesthesiology has advanced significantly over the past 20 years. Thanks to her, today it is possible to use new drugs and their combinations to suppress involuntary reflex reactions of the body and reduce muscle tone if necessary.

According to the method of conducting general anesthesia in children, it is inhalation, intravenous and intramuscular.

In pediatric practice, inhalation (hardware-mask) anesthesia is more often used. With hardware-mask anesthesia, the child receives a dose of painkillers in the form of an inhalation mixture.

This type of anesthesia is used during short, simple operations, as well as in some types of research, when a short-term shutdown of the child's consciousness is required.

Painkillers used for mask anesthesia are called inhalation anesthetics (Ftorotan, Isoflurane, Sevoflurane).

Intramuscular anesthesia for children is practically not used today, since with such anesthesia it is difficult for the anesthesiologist to control the duration and depth of sleep.

It has also been established that such a commonly used drug for intramuscular anesthesia, like Ketamine, is unsafe for the child's body. Therefore, intramuscular anesthesia is leaving pediatric medical practice.

For long and difficult operations, intravenous anesthesia is used or combined with inhalation anesthesia. This allows you to achieve a multicomponent pharmacological effect on the body.

Intravenous anesthesia includes the use of various medications. It uses narcotic analgesics (not drugs!), muscle relaxants that relax skeletal muscles, sleeping pills, various infusion solutions.

During the operation, the patient is given artificial lung ventilation (ALV) with a special apparatus.

Only the anesthesiologist makes the final decision on the need for this or that type of anesthesia for a particular child.

It all depends on the condition of a small patient, on the type and duration of the operation, on the presence of concomitant pathology, on the qualifications of the doctor himself.

To do this, before the operation, the anesthetist must tell the parents as much information as possible about the characteristics of the growth and development of the child.

In particular, the physician should learn from parents and/or medical records:

How was the pregnancy and childbirth?
what was the type of feeding: natural (up to what age) or artificial;
what illnesses the child had;
whether there were cases of allergies in the child himself or in the next of kin and to what exactly;
what is the vaccination status of the child and whether any negative reactions of the body during vaccination were previously identified.

Contraindications

There are no absolute contraindications to general anesthesia.

Relative contraindications may include:

The presence of concomitant pathology, which can adversely affect the condition during anesthesia or recovery after it. For example, anomalies of the constitution, accompanied by hypertrophy of the thymus gland.

A disease accompanied by difficulty in nasal breathing. For example, due to the curvature of the nasal septum, proliferation of adenoids, chronic rhinitis (for inhalation anesthesia).

Having an allergy to medications. Sometimes before the operation, the child is given allergy tests. As a result of such tests (skin or test tube tests), the doctor will have an idea of which drugs the body is taking and which it gives an allergic reaction to.

Based on this, the doctor will decide in favor of using one or another drug for anesthesia.

If the child had an acute respiratory viral infection or other infection with fever the day before, then the operation is postponed until the body is fully restored (the interval between the disease and treatment under anesthesia should be at least 2 weeks).

If the child ate before the operation. Children with a full stomach are not allowed for surgery, as there is a high risk of aspiration (gastric contents entering the lungs).

If the operation cannot be delayed, then the gastric contents can be evacuated using a gastric tube.

Before the operation or the actual hospitalization, parents should conduct a psychological preparation of the child.

Hospitalization itself for a baby, even without surgery, is a difficult test. The child is frightened by separation from parents, alien environment, regime change, people in white coats.

Of course, not in all cases the child needs to talk about the upcoming anesthesia.

If the disease interferes with the child and brings him suffering, then it is necessary to explain to the baby that the operation will save him from the disease. You can explain to the child that with the help of a special children's anesthesia, he will fall asleep and wake up when everything has already been done.

Parents should always communicate that they will be with the child before and after the operation. Therefore, the baby should wake up after anesthesia and see the dearest and closest people to him.

If the child is old enough, you can explain to him what awaits him in the near future (blood test, blood pressure measurement, electrocardiogram, cleansing enema, etc.). So the child will not be afraid of various procedures due to the fact that he did not know about them.

The hardest thing for parents and young children is given to keep a hungry pause. I have already spoken about the risk of aspiration above.

6 hours before anesthesia, the child cannot be fed, and 4 hours before, you can not even drink water.

A breastfed baby can be applied to the breast 4 hours before the upcoming operation.

A child who is receiving formula milk should not be fed 6 hours before anesthesia.

Before the operation, the intestines of a small patient are cleaned with an enema so that during the operation there is no involuntary stool discharge. This is very important for abdominal operations (on the abdominal organs).

In children's clinics, doctors have many devices in their arsenal to divert the attention of children from upcoming procedures. These are breathing bags (masks) with images of various animals, and flavored face masks, for example, with the smell of strawberries.

There are also special children's ECG devices, in which the electrodes are decorated with the image of the muzzles of different animals.

All this helps to distract and interest the child, conduct an examination in the form of a game, and even give the child the right to choose, for example, a mask for himself.

The consequences of anesthesia for the child's body

In fact, much depends on the professionalism of the anesthesiologist. After all, it is he who selects the method of introduction into anesthesia, the necessary drug and its dosage.

In children's practice, preference is given to proven drugs with good tolerance, that is, with minimal side effects, and which are quickly excreted from the child's body.

There is always a risk of intolerance to drugs or their components, especially in children prone to allergies.

It is possible to predict this situation only if the close relatives of the child had a similar reaction. Therefore, this information is always clarified before the operation.

Below I will give the consequences of anesthesia, which can occur not only due to intolerance to medications.

Anaphylactic shock (immediate type allergic reaction).
Malignant hyperemia (temperature rise above 40 degrees).
Cardiovascular or respiratory failure.
Aspiration (reflux of stomach contents into the respiratory tract).
Mechanical trauma is not excluded during catheterization of the veins or bladder, tracheal intubation, the introduction of a probe into the stomach.

The probability of such consequences exists, although it is extremely small (1-2%).

Recently, information has appeared that anesthesia can damage the neurons of the child's brain and affect the pace of development of the baby.

In particular, it is assumed that anesthesia disrupts the processes of memorizing new information. It is difficult for a child to concentrate and learn new material.

This pattern was suggested after the use of injectable drugs such as Ketamine for intramuscular anesthesia, which is practically not used in pediatric practice today. But the validity of such conclusions is still not fully proven.

Moreover, if there are such changes, they are not lifelong. Usually, cognitive abilities are restored within a few days after anesthesia.

Children after anesthesia recover much faster than adults, since metabolic processes are faster and the adaptive capabilities of a young organism are higher than in adulthood.

And here much depends not only on the professionalism of the anesthesiologist, but also on the individual characteristics of the child's body.

Young children, that is, up to two years, are at greater risk. In children at this age, the nervous system actively matures, and new neural connections are formed in the brain.

Therefore, operations under anesthesia, if possible, are postponed for a period after 2 years.

Myths about anesthesia

“What if the child does not wake up after the operation?”

World statistics say that this is extremely rare (1 out of 100,000 operations). Moreover, more often such an outcome of the operation is associated not with a reaction to anesthesia, but with the risks of the surgical intervention itself.

It is in order to minimize such risks that the patient undergoes a thorough examination during elective operations. If any disorders or diseases are detected, the operation is postponed until the complete recovery of the small patient.

“What if the child feels everything?”

Firstly, no one calculates the dosage of anesthetics for anesthesia "by eye". Everything is calculated based on the individual parameters of a small patient (weight, height).

Secondly, during the operation, the child's condition is constantly monitored.

The pulse, respiratory rate, blood pressure and body temperature of the patient, the level of oxygen / carbon dioxide in the blood (saturation) are tracked.

In modern clinics with good operating equipment, even the depth of anesthesia, the degree of relaxation of the patient's skeletal muscles, can be monitored. This allows you to accurately track the minimum deviations in the child's condition during the operation.

“Mask anesthesia is an outdated technique. A safer form of anesthesia intravenous "

Most operations (more than 50%) in pediatric practice are performed using inhalation (hardware-mask) anesthesia.

This type of anesthesia eliminates the need for the use of potent drugs and their complex combinations, unlike intravenous anesthesia.

At the same time, inhalation anesthesia gives the anesthesiologist more room for maneuver and allows better management and control of the depth of anesthesia.

In any case, regardless of the reasons for which the operation with anesthesia is indicated for the child, anesthesia is a necessity.

This is a savior, an assistant who will allow you to get rid of the disease in a painless way.

After all, even with minimal intervention under local anesthesia, when the child sees everything, but does not feel, the psyche of not every child can withstand this “spectacle”.

Anesthesia allows the treatment of non-contact and low-contact children. Provides comfortable conditions for the patient and the doctor, reduces the time of treatment and improves its quality.

Moreover, not in all cases we have the opportunity to wait, even if the child is small.

In this case, doctors try to explain to parents that leaving the child’s illness without surgical treatment can provoke greater consequences than the likelihood of developing temporary consequences of general anesthesia.

What is the danger of general anesthesia for a child, you were told by a practicing pediatrician and twice mother Elena Borisova-Tsarenok.