I’ve heard that if someone undergoes surgery and needs to be put under with general anesthesia, that the doctor will put a tube down your lungs to make sure you get enough oxygen.
So does this mean a person under general anesthesia is incapable of breathing on their own, or is it done as a safety measure?
Final question:
How do doctors know when to take the tube out before a patient wakes up? I’ve never been put under before, but one of my fear has always been to wake up with a metal tube down my throat and get that Matrix Neo experience when he first wakes up in the pod and pulls a giant tube from his throat.
Does this ever happen? How is it prevented?
In: 197
Mostly it’s simply to ensure you get enough oxygen. Anesthesia can have some effect on the lungs, so they want to be safe.
With some procedures, the anesthesia is mixed with a paralytic. In those cases you can’t breathe on your own, so have the machine do it for you.
In the first case, the anesthesiologist removes the tube at the end of the surgery before it fully wears off. Sometimes they have to wait until you start to wake up. It’s uncomfortable, but not that bad. The tube isn’t metal but slightly flexible plastic, so it’s not as bad as your probably fearing.
Latest Answers