Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 12/2/2009

Question
My dad is having colon cancer surgery Monday. He is 71 years old with a leaky heart valve. The valve is leaking 30 percent and he is on medication to control this. They are unable to do the surgery laparoscopicaly. My question is if the anesthesia is safe for my dad. I am just worried sick over this. Please advise. Thank you

Answer
Yes the anesthesia is safe. Your dad is certainly at more risk than the average person but the anesthesiologist will take every precaution to provide a safe anesthetic for your father. In general, anesthesia risks for surgery are extremely low. In fact, anesthesia risks, in general, are some of the lowest in medicine. There are still surgical complications and hospital complications to be concerned with but if you have a good surgeon and you're at a good hospital, there is nothing more you can do

Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston