Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 3/31/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hello Dr. Levy:

During my early 20's I had shoulder surgery and the anesthesiologist advised me to have full anesthesia.  Fortunately surgery went well, but the side effects of the anesthesia were almost unbearable.  I had severe vomiting for the next 48 hours, I was so weak at times, I could not open my eyes.  This felt dangerous but no one seemed alarmed at the hospital. Bottom line is, I never ever want to experience that again.  Is there anything I can do to prevent this?  My guess is that over a lifetime, this won't be the last time I need anesthesia.  I would be willing to go to great lengths to pay a specialist who can help me with a formulation of anesthesia that will not make me so ill.

ANSWER: You don't say how long ago your previous surgery was but there are already some medications that reduce the nausea. Furthermore we have a variety of medinines we could give you intraop to reduce the nausea and vomitting. There is no guarantee you won't have any nausea but it is better than it used to be. Make sure to let your next anesthesiologist how nauseous you were so he will be able to take the proper precautions.

Ronald Levy, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks Dr. Levy.  I have a few follow up questions.

My previous surgery was about 6 years ago and I did discuss with the anesthesiologist at the time that I thought I may have a bad reaction to anesthesia(my mother had a similar reaction but not quite as severe for her surgeries).  I'm 29 now.  Is there any way for me to test the waters with the new medication available now short of actually going into surgery?  

I have two fears. One is that I may have an allergy to the anesthesia and the other being that I may not have the opportunity to speak with the anesthesiologist ahead of time to discuss my condition. For example, if I were in a car accident or in a foreign country there may not be an opportunity to have that discussion prior to surgery.

Answer
There is no way to "test the waters" and there is nothing to fear. Even if you can't talk to the anesthesiologist for some reason, we often give these anti-emetic drugs during the case any way. There are very few reasons why you couldn't talk to the anesthesiologist before surgery and if you were in one of those conditions, you probably would be too sick to realize that you were nauseous anyway. Don't worry.

Ronald Levy, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston