What are the complications of anesthesia?
The vast majority of complications from anesthesia are minor and temporary. These include sore throat, hoarseness, nausea/vomiting, bruised or cut lips. A more serious, but not major complication following spinal or epidural is spinal headache, which occurs in less than one in a hundred cases. The major complications include aspiration pneumonia, heart attacks, stroke, nerve damage, anaphylactic shock, and rarely death. Fortunately, the incidence of these major complications is extraordinarily low. The incidence of anesthesia- related death is approximately 1:200,000 in healthy patients. Your risk for complications will vary with your medical condition, the procedure you are having, and if you are having emergency surgery. Some of the medical conditions that may increase your risk are poorly controlled high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, abnormal heart rhythm, strokes, smoking history, asthma, obesity or diabetes. Well- controlled, uncomplicated high blood pressure does not i
