No surgery is risk-free, but what are the risks?
No surgery is risk-free, but understanding the possiblecomplicationscan help you make better and more informed decisions.
Possible risks include a reaction toanesthesia, postoperative pain, nerve damage, and infection.
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In severe cases, pneumonia, internal bleeding, and septic shock can occur.
Even so, severe complications are relatively uncommon, affecting only around 8% of surgeries.
The risk is greatest among people who undergo emergency surgery,open surgery, or extremely long surgeries.
People with obesity or who have a postoperative infection are also at risk.
This article describes the possible risks of surgery.
including how your risk of complications is assessed and avoided.
Even so, there is a risk of anesthesia-related complications, particularly whengeneral anesthesiais used.
The most common side effects of this are a sore throat and nausea.
A more serious condition associated with general anesthesia and intubation isaspiration.
Intraoperative Injuries
While every effort is made to avoid accidents, they do occur during surgery.
In many cases, the perforation can be quickly fixed with minimal consequence.
However, there are times when a perforation can lead to contamination of the surgical site.
Examples include abowelorgallbladderperforation in which exposure to feces or bile can lead to contamination and postoperative infection.
The classification helps direct the appropriate course of action to reduce the risk of an infection.
The risk of severe bleeding varies by the punch in and location of the surgery.
Stopping blood thinners likewarfarinbefore surgery can also help reduce the risk of bleeding.
Both are potentially life-threatening.
Most people are given a blood thinner likeheparinafter major surgery to reduce the risk of DVT.
Compression socks can also help.
They also provide sensations such as warmth, pressure, and pain.
During surgery, it is possible to damage nerves.
The problems can be even more severe if the brain or spinal cord is injured.
Still, they can and do occur.
If not treated withantibiotics, an SSI can spread to the bloodstream, causingsepticemia.
This, in turn, can trigger a potentially deadly, all-body reaction known assepsis.
The problem is that longer ventilation times translate to a higher risk ofpneumonia.
Studies have shown that the risk of this increases exponentially when a ventilator is used for over 24 hours.
Staying in bed for three days without movement can also increase the risk of postoperative pneumonia.
People withobesityand uncontrolleddiabetescan also take longer to heal due to abnormal changes in the metabolism and immune response.
Performance status (PS)also factors into how slowly or quickly a person recovers.
This is a measurement used with certain surgeries to determine how able a person is to care for themselves.
Speak with your surgeon to see if this is possible.
If scarring is a concern, quitting cigarettes at least two weeks before surgery and during recovery can help.
Surgical re-treatment is not uncommon, particularly with degenerative spinal diseases or following a severe traumatic injury.
Death Due to Surgery
All surgeries, whether elective or necessary, carry a risk of death.
Some are exceptionally low, while others are significantly higher.
The risk of death is higher withemergency surgery, major surgery on an elderly adult, ororgan transplant surgery.
On rare occasions, some people might experience a severe reaction to anesthesia called malignant hyperthermia.
How Is Surgical Risk Assessed?
Before surgery, your surgeon will meet with you and explain the potential risks of your surgery.
This process is calledinformed consent.This typically takes place several days or weeks before surgery.
You should then be prepared to ask any or all questions you oughta make an informed judgment.
Certain surgeries have a higher risk of complications than others.
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