Is general Anesthesia Safe For Children?
If you’re taking your child in for some procedure, they may consider giving your child general anesthesia for these complex treatments, and it might be recommended for those that aren’t able to get the normal treatments in a normal office.
But, it’s definitely important to make sure that this is good for the child, and usually, it’s used when the child needed extensive treatment, has acute situational anxiety, is uncooperative during the procedure, is immature in cognitive functioning, has any medical conditions or disabilities that might require this. Usually, when parents ask about this, they wonder if it’s safe. The answer is yes. It’s essentially a way to make someone sleep with medications. They are reversible and short-acting, only working for a small period of time. When they’re done, they’re awake, and the body is monitored to make sure that the child is fine, and even the brain and hemodynamics are monitored.
You may wonder what types of medications are used, usually it’s to sedate, and the other is for an amnesia state that you don’t remember what happened, and usually, it’s used to keep the patient quiet, unable to move and to not feel pain. These are tailored to the weight of a child and what the procedure requires. Once they’re given anesthesia, the child just doesn’t move, and essentially sleeps the entire time. They won’t feel anything from this, and usually they come out of this a bit different.
If you’re wondering whether it has an impact on the developing brain, the answer is this. There might be certain saturation drops, or that oxygenation doesn’t go as well as we thought. This usually happens with anesthesia, and usually, the medication doesn’t do anything to the brain. Usually though, it’s a safe procedure that many use each and every day. Typically the gas is taken through inhaling, and it leaves the body by exhaling, so essentially through the use of breathing it’s normal.
The nasal tube is there because it allows for safe and controlled anesthesia and allows the dentist to make sure that everything is there and protected. it’s also the safest way to get the medicine in through the body, and it allows the dentist to work on the mouth as well. The nasal tube usually doesn’t interfere, and it actually is good because it prevents aspirations into the blood and the lungs as well.
Some children may vomit, and nausea is a side effect of the sedation and the narcotics. These usually are nothing that compares to the benefits that they will receive. Typically, the child may experience this for about an hour or so during the recovery room where they can observe, give anti-nausea medications if needed, and then send them home. Some children may take a little bit to recover, but some may be fine and ready to go anywhere with their parents by the end of the day. It depends on how their body handles it.
This type of procedure is usually very fast. The child is out like a light within moments, and they’re essentially out until the dentist is done with them. From there, the child can then go home, and they’ll feel even better than they have before. The parents will notice that their child usually feels great after all of this, and from there, they’ll be able to take care of the kid, and make it so that they’re able to easily and without fail, create the life that they want to have, and essentially have a great success in doing this.
So yes, having this anesthesia is actually really great, and it’s something that you should consider if you’re looking to really create a good experience of the child, and if you’re worried that the procedure is too much. Usually, any dentist that works with anesthesia is a trained specialist, so you’ll be able to make sure that you get the best coverage that you need. Being able to help your child through this is important, and with the help of anesthesia, you’ll be able to create a great and positive atmosphere for the child no matter what may come about from this, and what happens next.
