Is it possible when under anesthetics.....?

Question

to wake up from general anesthestics and be a vegetable???

or to sleep for 3 days after you're given anesthetics??? My friend said that happened to her....

and also why is it that when you get intubated during surgery that you don't throw up from the tube being down your throat??

and how far does it go anyways???

Answer 1

You probably wouldn't sleep continuously for 3 days, but you might sleep most of the time, on and off, for that long--especially if your friend was a teenager, as teens have generally higher sleep requirements.

Some people do throw up from the tube going down their throat, and as the answer above says, that's why you can't have anything to eat or drink for 6-12 hours before getting anesthesia. That way there's nothing to throw up except your stomach juices--which can still cause problems. In the ER we don't have the luxury of knowing when someone will need to be intubated. For example, if someone has a stroke while eating dinner, but still needs to be intubated. In that case we push down on their windpipe (gently) to squish the esophagus shut while intubating them.

Answer 2

Vegetablehood:  remotely possible, but very unlikely.  It is possible for people to have strokes or hypoxic events while under anesthesia, but fortunately, that's rare.  We watch for that kind of thing.

Sleep for three days:  again, possible.  If you have heart surgery, or a brain operation, or some other extremely invasive, long, complicated surgery, you might be out of it for days.  You might remain intubated and sedated in an ICU.  It's not what usually happens, and sometimes we know in advance that it's a likely outcome.

Intubation:  You don't throw up because you are anesthetized.  If you were awake, you'd probably gag and not be terribly happy about the whole tube thing.  We also require patients to have empty stomachs so that they don't vomit and inhale it before the breathing tube goes in.

The balloon on the endotracheal tube sits just below the vocal cords, with the tube ending a bit above the carina.

http://img.tfd.com/dorland/tube_orotrach...

We check to make sure it's not in too far by listening for breath sounds on both sides of the chest.

Answer 3

Pangolin will be along shortly to provide the definitive answer...

Anesthesia is a very safe practice.  Complications are very, very rare, and extreme complications like severe brain damage are all but nonexistent--but occasionally they do happen.  It is always possible for someone to have a serious reaction to the drugs that are given for anesthesia and that is why they take such careful histories and why they watch all the patient's vitals constantly while they are under.  Some people do have more trouble shaking off the aftereffects of anesthesia than others--the last time I had general anesthesia I felt a lot like your friend and just pretty much slept for two or three days.  This can also have something to do with the pain medication you might be receiving AFTER the operation, though.

The tube goes past your vocal cords and into your trachea.  If it goes farther than that and into a bronchus, it needs to be pulled back because then it will aerate only the one lung that that bronchus goes to.  When you see them listening to the chest after intubation on medical shows, that is what they're checking for--"good breath sounds" on both sides, indicating that air is getting into both lungs.

When you are anesthetized, your gag reflex is somewhat depressed, and usually you are given drugs to immobilize you before you are intubated.  But you can vomit and that is one reason that you are supposed to be NPO--nothing by mouth--for twelve hours or so before surgery if possible.  Once the tube is in place, they inflate a bulb on it that both holds it in place and also helps block anything from being aspirated (breathed into the lungs).