Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 5/29/2011

Question
My infant is scheduled to have ear tubes placed in 9 days. Today I noticed he has Oral Thrush. I called the doctor to get a prescription for Nystatin Liquid right away to try to get rid of it prior to surgery. If the Thrush is still there, will he be at greater risk going under anesthesia for the procedure?

Answer
Generally it is not a problem for us since we do these cases under mask anesthesia but it is up to the anesthesiologist (and the surgeon) whether to proceed. This is a purely elective procedure so they may elect to postpone it.

Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston