Surgical procedures

[skischool]

Has anybody recently had minor surgery but because of their current lung condition been precluded from general anesthesia and had a local anesthetic,The reason i ask is that i will need a hernia op in the very near future and i would prefer a general anesthetic,(its the best sleep i ever get).love .......skis

[canalchris]

Hello, I have had quite a few procedures without general anaesthetic because of my COPD. These included the surgical removal of both my little fingers, (. It would take too long to explain why!!) several procedures on the palms of both hands. The scariest of all was an op to the outlet from my bladder ,through , (. Ahem ) keyhole surgery.😜😅. Apart from the fact that the fear factor is immense I can honestly say that the NHS were superb in every respect. It's no good me saying don't worry cos we all would. BUT DONT. Ha ha .👍.

[Caspiana]

Hello skischool .

Yes, I had a Septoplasty to correct a deviated septum. They could only use a local anaesthetic because of my poor lung function. I really would have preferred to have been asleep. 😑

[joyce74]

Hi , yes me. after tests I was shown to have a rare ductile breast tumour. Pre op tests indicated , due to my COPD I would not be safe to have a general anaesthetic. The tumour would not respond to hormone treatment, chemo, and radio therapy could cause more damage to my lungs. There was no choice but to have a local but I was lucky to have a fantastic consultant and a cancer team looking after me. I am now a month further from the mastectomy and all is well. Good luck, sure you will be fine, Joyce.

[sassy59]

Pete never has a general anaesthetic because of his health issues and his spinal cord stimulator was fitted under local anaesthetic and sedation. He is to undergo a 4th op at sometime as the leads have moved.

Good luck ski whatever you have and wishing you well. Xxxxx

[snail]

I've not been able to have general anaesthetic for 15years. I've had 2 operations to remove benign tumours from my breast using local anaesthetic. It was fine.

[Hidden]

Hey Skis it's pretty routine for gas men (anaesthetists ) to use local anaesthetic for peeps like us with lung conditions due to the risk of the gases and vapours also ET tubes and laryngeal mask airways being passed is a high risk of infection after surgical procedures. At your preassesment appointment discuss fully as I know you will but hernia ops are fairly regular procedures I hope it all goes well and you get through it all I'm sure you will 💜💜💜

[lynisa48]

I have had four operations this way with no problems the last one eight weeks ago they also gave me a sedative I did not remember much after being wheeled into theatre and enjoyed a really relaxing sleep so might be good for you to suggest having a sedative good luck

[soulsaver]

I've had minor op - out for 45 minutes - under general; they didn't seem to worry. Not sure what tests they did for confidence, but I was pretty fit at the time, back slid since...

I'm diagnosed mild side of moderate COPD (emphs) at last spiro.

[Dedalus]

I was given spinal block together with sedation for knee replacement (I asked for the sedation as I didn't want to be awake listening to hammering of bones etc). Had to wait a while till got full feeling back in legs, but felt just like I'd had general anaesthetic x

[Claudine]

I've often wondered about this subject. For someone with Bronchiectasis, it would be the collection of mucus that would worry me. If you have stitches, the coughing would also be a problem. I would probably need hoovering out afterwards! Has anyone out there with Bronchiectasis had an op? And how did you deal with the coughing aspect? Methinks they would have to follow up any procedure (even with sedative/local) with a bronchoscopy.

[cofdrop-UK in reply to Claudine]

I have bronch and have had a number of ops. For removal of gall bladder the registrar was reluctant not only because of the GA but because of the gas they have to introduce. I asked to see the consultant and he was much bolder and arranged for me to see the anaesthetist at that clinic, who made the decision and they had a HD bed ready, which I didn't need. He liased with my resp consutant throughout.

Had gynae stuff with a spinal block.

Just had physio, no bronchoscopy following all surgeries and although you need to take more care, it's fine. I did put a pillow around me on the journey home to protect from the seat belt.

cx

[skischool]

Thank you all for your replies,it would appear as i thought that most consultants opt for the safe side when it comes to Anesthesia,i had an Hernia operation about 15 years ago done under a general but obviously the team that did that where probably advised that my copd/emphysema was at an early and relatively safe level then.Once again thanks for the input......skis

[cofdrop-UK]

Good luck to you skis. Hope all goes well for you.

love cx