low O2 sats after surgery - should I be worried?

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Posting for traffic- tried general health.

If there are any anaesthetists/other doctors out there I'd be grateful for some reassurance. Sorry it's a bit long.

I had a very short operation with general anaesthetic recently. I came round, I felt ok then they gave me a nebuliser and salbutamol. I think oxygen sat was 90%. They also called a chest physio. I think The anaesthenist told physio she could only get a small line down. That got my sats back up. I only have my recollection of what happened and was groggy.

I've had many operations, including for the same thing before without this problem. At the hospital they didn't seem bothered afterwards and I was just discharged by the nurses as normal. My aunt who is a doctor was pretty concerned.

Now im tired and a bit more breathless then usual/after previous surgery. I don't have asthma. Do I need to worry about it, or just relax as it was all sorted out before I went back to the ward? Do I mention it before future surgery? It's hard to tell if aunt is just overreacting. Thank you.

How recent is recently? Anaesthetic will usually suppress your respiration rate for at least 12 hours after the surgery.
Are you taking any opiate based medication? Asking as this will suppress your reap rate aswell which will affect your oxygen saturation.
How long were you in hospital for?
The staff at the hospital, including your consultant will have agreed that it was a safe discharge during a ward round, hence your discharge.

If they gave you salbutamol rather than oxygen then they must have been concerned that your airways were constricted mustn’t they? I don’t know whether that’s something that generally happens to non-asthmatics after general anaesthetics though.

You will also struggle to get any advice from medical/healthcare professionals due to the nature of you question and accountability. I suggest if you have any concerns, you ring 111 or contact the surgical ward directly.

It was only a day case yesterday morning. I'm fine, think my aunts reaction has made me more nervous, without that I'd have just have thought it a bit of bad luck. No opiate based medication.

I was a chest physio - I’d have been called to help you clear phlegm or to do breathing exercises but you’d have to have been awake & alert for those.

The fact that chest physio sorted things out suggests that you had some secretions (mucucs basically) in your airways. This can happen sometimes if you've had a tube down your throat, basically because the airways get a bit irritated. If the anaesthetist was trying to get the tube down for a little while this may have been a factor.

It sounds as though it was all sorted pretty quickly but if you've got breathlessness then see your GP.

There are lots of reasons why oxygen levels can be a bit low after surgery. They wouldn't have let you leave the recovery room if they were really worried though so I'd be reassured by the fact you've been discharged. Anaesthetists are pretty cautious creatures & we're generally risk averse & I suspect the fact they didn't come & talk in more detail once you were fully recovered means there wasn't anything serious to worry about. Salbutamol is quite often given (rightly or wrongly is sometimes given as a bit of a knee jerk response to low oxygen sats). If you're keen to know exactly what happened it might be worth mentioning when you next see your surgeon (they'll be able to contact the anaesthetist). Or you could phone the ward/anaesthetic secretary.

If you're still feeling breathless of course it may be worth contacting the ward/speaking to your GP sooner.

Thanks for the reassurance. If I'm breathless tomorrow I'll contact the GP.

Might be worth asking what was in the anaesthetic and seeing if you can have something different next time . I had 2 ops in an 8 month period ( same op different arm) and after the first I was very nauseous and short of breath for about 48 hours , infact on the first night I had to come downstairs and sleep upright in a chair . I told the anaethetist before the second op and she missed out the midazolam that I’d had the first time and it was all fine .

Good idea Floral Next surgery will likely be for the same thing so will just there in my notes.

When you see the anaesthetist before your next op you can ask them to have a look at your records and explain exactly what happened.

If you still feel breathless then probably best to see your GP.

Do you smoke OP? This can sometimes affect how you come round even if it's just a few a day. Good idea to get advice from GP tomorrow, hope you feel better soon.

I'm lucky I never took up smoking.

This exact thing happened to me. O2 levels below 90, blood pressure low, temperature low. Very breathless afterwards. Family member of mine is an anaesthetist and visited me while I was on the ward - she wasn't concerned. I mentioned it to my anaesthetist the next time I had surgery and she gave me a different type of anaesthetic, no issues. Definitely mention it if you have surgery again, even if they've said it's in your notes! Hope you feel better

90% isn't desperately low, although it's not ideal and normal patients should be >95%. It can quite easily happen in a patient who is drowsy. A bit of Salbutamol helps airways to widen because it relaxes the smooth muscles of the bronchi, so increased airflow allows greater gas exchange.

If a patient has a transient issue after an anaesthetic, that is resolved without incident, then it wouldn't be considered significant. It would be a normal part of post-anaesthetic care.