Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 6/2/2011

Question
After a diagnosis of breast cancer, I consulted with a plastic surgeon about reconstruction options.  He expressed concern about post-anesthesia complications resulting from my comorbid bipolar disorder.  He even said he would not perform a certain type of reconstruction because of the length of time I would be under general anesthesia (could be from 8 to 12 hours), and that he's had a patient with bipolar disorder in the past having some kind of psychosis.

Have you ever heard of post-anesthesia problems like this that are attributable to having bipolar disorder?  I have read of some patients experiencing psychosis after anesthesia, but I really want to know if that risk is increased (in a statistically significant way) because the patient has bipolar disorder.

Thank you for your time!

Answer
I have not heard of this nor is there any reason to assume that bipolar people would react differently to anesthesia. If this particular surgeon does not want to perform the procedure that will give the best results because of this reason, I would suggest finding a different surgeon.


Ronald Levy, MD
Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston