What are the risks from anesthesia?
While your exact risks will depend on your anesthetic and your personal health history, anesthesia is very safe overall. Recent estimates place the risk of death from anesthesia (not related to the surgery) at 1 in 200,000 to 1 in 400,000 patients or less. Advancements over the last twenty years in monitoring and equipment have made our profession among the safest in the medical specialties. Nevertheless, any procedure assumes some amount of risk. The most frequent complications with anesthesia include reactions to medications, high or low blood pressure, and breathing or airway problems. More common complications include scratched cornea of the eye, sore throat, chipped teeth, sore muscles, or nerve injury.
