Any surgery means a risk. In bariatric surgery, the risk is more specific and it´s directly related to the health complications caused by obesity and overweight.
To reduce the risk possibilities, it is essential that the medical team take all necessary precautions. As part of the process, anesthesia during a bariatric procedure is essential not only to avoid pain in the interventions but to provide safety.
Usually, anesthesia in the obese patient was part of the rare pathologies chapter in some anesthesiology book.
But today surgeries to lose weight are very common in hospitals because of the serious epidemic that we face, and anesthesia in them is a subspecialty of risk compared with cardiovascular or neurosurgical anesthesia.
In cases like this, anesthesia should be planned very carefully because patients with obesity have medical specifications and risk conditions that need to be studied and evaluated.
Because of this, the importance of an anesthesiologist as part of the medical team during a bariatric surgery is remarkable. This need increases considerably every day in hospitals all over the world.
A pre-anesthetic evaluation is fundamental
To avoid any setbacks, the pre-anesthetic evaluation it´s the first step to known the comorbid conditions normally present in an obesity patient´s medical record.
In this regard, Dr. Alejandro Dávalos, anesthesiologist expert in bariatric surgeries, explains that during the pre-anesthetic evaluation a very detailed clinical history of the patient and an examination are made.
This way information on existing diseases (diabetes, hypertension, etc.) is obtained, as well as surgical and anesthetic history, and allergies, among other relevant details.
“At this point, it´s very important that the patient gives us information about all those medications that he or she consumes with or without a medical prescription, since they may have implications in the anesthetic management. Based on this information, the optimal anesthetic management of the patient it´s decided”.
How to avoid complications
However, there are wrong beliefs about anesthesia. Ideas produced by the understandable fear of the patient not to wake up or to lose total control of his body.
It´s important to highlight that the drugs used to anesthetize a patient during weight loss surgery produce a rapid and controlled awakening. Also, this process is very safe because the anesthesiologist will be standing by the patient all the time.
The anesthetic management chosen for bariatric surgery is general anesthesia, consisting of inducing deep sleep through the application of intravenous medications, so the patient does not feel pain during surgery.
When the patient is asleep, a tracheal device is placed to keep the breathing during the procedure. After the surgery and before the awakening, we remove the device.
Dr. Dávalos says that it´s very “important to mention that during the whole procedure you will not feel pain, you will not wake up during the surgery or will have any memory of the procedure”.
After surgery, the patient will be in the recovery area to remain under observation while recovering from the anesthetic effects.
If you are a candidate for bariatric surgery, take a look at the following recommendations
- Do not suspend diabetes or high blood pressure treatments without medical advice.
- In case of thyroid disease, you will need one test to prove the disease is controlled.
- Smoking patients are advised to stop smoking at least 6 weeks before their surgery.
—
Dr. Alejandro Dávalos is one of the best anesthesiologists in the city. He has broad and proven experience in the anesthetic treatment of bariatric patients. He is part of our team of specialists in treatments and bariatric surgeries.