Is it true that using fewer drugs while undergoing general anesthesia is safer?
That’s not true. General anesthesia is accomplished with an armamentarium of medications that we have at our disposal. One anaesthetic agent does not fit all. We are constantly changing the medications we use in both dosage and also the family of medications that we use, based on the vital signs of the patient and what’s going on during the procedure. We may have to give more narcotics, we may have to give more or less muscle relaxants, and we may have to turn up the inhalation agents, or even turn them off. But the best anaesthetic is a balanced anaesthetic, using a potpourri of medications. We may have to use anti-hypertensive agents or agents to increase the blood pressure, for example, vasopressers. So, less is not more when it comes to anesthesia.
