Patients should check the background of the doctor who would be giving them anesthesia, and inform doctors of their chronic diseases and drug allergies prior to a medical cosmetic surgery, an anesthesiologist said on Sunday, following the death of a woman who had been given anesthesia.
A 49-year-old woman, surnamed Chiu (邱), experienced adverse reactions, such as decreasing blood oxygen level, after getting intravenous general (IVG) anesthesia for a cosmetic surgery — radiofrequency skin tightening, picosecond laser therapies and botulinum toxin injections — in Taipei on Saturday.
Attending medical personnel stopped the surgery and called an ambulance.
Photo: Taipei Times
Chiu was conscious on the way to the hospital, but her condition deteriorated rapidly and she was declared dead.
Taiwan Society of Anesthesiologists managing supervisor and Chung Shan Medical University Hospital anesthesiologist Liao Wen-chin (廖文進) on Sunday said IVG anesthesia allows patients to keep breathing without the need to insert ventilator tubes into their throat — a major difference from general anesthesia.
However, the relaxing effects of IVG anesthesia could turn into an emergent condition that inhibits the patient’s breathing just by altering the dose by 1 percent, he said.
Prior to cosmetic surgery, people should make sure that the anesthesia would be administered by a qualified anesthesiologist, and they must inform the anesthesiologist of their personal medical history, including high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, sleep apnea, cerebrovascular accidents, myocardial infarction or drug allergies, he said.
Jen-Ai Chang Gung Cooperation Alliance Hospital’s Pain Management Center doctor Wen Yung-jui (溫永銳) said each anesthesia is an independent event with risks and should not be evaluated based on one’s prior experience with anesthesia.
Sufficient discussion with the anesthesiologist is necessary before surgery, he said.
People under IVG anesthesia would not fall asleep, but would be under the influence of the anesthetics, Wen said.
That is why a surgery would require the participation of a doctor who specializes in anesthesiology, and nurses to monitor and maintain the vital signs of the person they are operating on, he said.
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