Does general anesthesia after surgery cause your oxygen level to go down typically after surgery?

Question

i had laporoscopic gallbladder surgery about a week ago and when i was in the recovery area my oxygen level kept lowering down to about 90% i know thats not really low or anything but mine is normally at 99%, im a 21yr old female, is this from having the breathing tube during surgery? anyway im curious if this was a normal reaction?

Answer 1

Yes this is normal.  There are several anesthetics which produce the same goal but retain different side effects, however, anesthesia depresses the lungs function during anesthesia, hence why intubation is practiced.  Everyone reacts differently to medication and recovery time varies per patient.  Since you have not specified when you had the procedure and how many days after you checked your blood O2, I would recommend re-performing this test after 2weeks of the procedure date.  Hope this helps