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Surgical procedures and b12 deficiency

shaylynn profile image
4 Replies

Can anyone tell me if there are any issues with having a surgical procedure done while being B12 deficient. Is there a certain protocol to take before or after surgery or any risks involved?

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shaylynn
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clivealive profile image
clivealiveForum Support

Hi shaylynn a wiser person than I has commented previously about the use of Nitrous Oxide as an anaesthetic during surgery:

Nitrous oxide is a super-oxidiser when it comes to B12 and converts it to a form that the body cannot use, so if you had an absorption problem and couldn't replace your the oxidised B12 with new B12 then it would be a permanent problem.

Nitrous oxide isn't a local anaesthetic so suspect it isn't used for most day surgery but if you have any doubt then I would suggest that you contact the hospital/surgery where the operation is to be done and ask them to clarify.

The link below makes it clear.

google.com/url?q=https%3A%2...

I am not a medically trained person.

Plucky1976 profile image
Plucky1976

I had dental surgery and asked the surgeon to not use nitrous oxide. He told me they only use it to initially relax you before actual anesthetic. I told him I didn’t want him to use it at all and he questioned me as to why. When I told him he said he had never heard such a thing and I simply stated that I didn’t want to take the risk. He had no problem not using it.

bquoss profile image
bquoss

For recent outpatient surgery, nitrous oxide was listed in the "allergic to" column. That way it didn't require explanations for the whole surgery team or anyone else.

Lyynn123 profile image
Lyynn123 in reply to bquoss

Great to know. Thanks!!

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