Dd general anaesthetic- what happens?

[dinomirror]

Dd16 has ear plug stuck in her ear and it needs to be taken out under anaesthetic. Can anyone talk me through what will happen? None of my kids have ever been under before

You will probably be able to go into the anaesthetic room with her. If they haven't already they will put in a venflon to give IV drugs. They will attach ECG stickers to monitor and will possibly put on an oxygen mask. The anaesthetic drugs act very quickly to put her to sleep and one of the ward nurses will take you back to the ward to wait until she's in recovery and you should be able to see her as soon as she's awake. Hopefully this helps and it's over before you know it

DD had her first surgery at 17, because she was still on a paediatric ward I was allowed to come done with her to be put to sleep. She had a pre-med an hour before to relax her as she was quite nervous due to it being major surgery. This made her really chilled out and a bit sleepy.

Once she was brought down to the anaesthetic room it all happened quite quickly. All the staff were really lovely and chatty, great at putting her at ease. They start a cannula, apply their monitors before giving oxygen to breathe through a mask. They then begin to inject the propofol which within a few seconds takes effect and your DD will be asleep before you’re ushered out by a nurse. It can be hard to see then lose consciousness as a parent but she’ll be in the best of hands with her anaesthetist, they’re incredibly highly skilled + qualified. She’ll likely wake up in recovery a bit groggy but after from that should be absolutely fine. If all she’s having done is a foreign body removal surgery will be very quick and you’ll be able to see her again in no time at all

Thanks , i will do a lot better knowing roughly what to expect. Two questions if anyone knows- will she be herself again within a day? The hospital has said that i should get a call to tell me the date and knowing them, i won't. What to do/ who to call if i dont?

Yep. She’ll be absolutely fine and back to normal within a few hours, especially since it’s such a short operation.

I would warn you in the kindest possible way to prepare yourself mentally for watching them go under the anaesthetic. Having to stay strong, jolly and blasé about it all (admittedly for a slightly younger child than yours) to try and keep my DC nerves down as much as possible is the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a mother. I think I've done it 3 or 4 times, but it never got easier and I always left the anaesthetic room in tears. Always a lovely nurse about to comfort me when I needed it though which was so helpful and kind of them. I wouldn't say I'm an anxious type, but my goodness I found that difficult.

DD has just had an eye operation under GA. As she is 16 I was allowed to be with her when she had the anaesthetic. She has SN and a bad needle phobia so she was given the choice between injection or gas. She didn't have any pre-op and they held the mask on for her and initially gave her "happy air" which she has had at the dentist before. They then gradually introduced another anaesthetic gas. The anaesthetist talked me through it all as he was doing it and she went under pretty quickly.

They called me back when she was in recovery and still quite groggy. It did take a while for her properly to come round but it was only day surgery so after a couple of hours back on the ward we were ready to go home.

She was quite tired afterwards but I think that was also down to some of the painkillers she had been given.

It was much less stressful than I thought it was going to be and the staff were all lovely. Everything was explained clearly to her at each stage.

My dd had to have a general because she had a raisin stuck up her nose. They used gas and dd was fine (she was 2). I waited outside until the procedure was over - it was literally about 15 mins. Then I was brought into her in recovery. I’d have thought your daughters procedure would also be speedy with it being a similar thing. My dd was fine within a few hours

Once you daughter goes in it's very fast and you need to be prepared to be ushered out before you think you should be.

It's hard but they know what's best.

When I take kids to theatre. The anaesthetist will says "give her a kiss" and that's your cue to leave. If it's just a quick removal of a foreign body, they'll just do it in the anaesthetic room. Though at 16, I'm surprised she needs a GA to get it out. We'd discharge her an hour later. As long as she'd eaten and drank.

OP- what exact anesthetic did you sign the consent for? I find it odd that a full general anaesthetic would be required to remove a stuck ear plug! Did they say a full general, twilight sedation or even just gas/air? Depending on which anaesthetic she has, will determine how long she is a bit drowsy/out of it afterwards.

the anaesthetist and surgeon will see her before coming to theatre. The anaesthetist will have a bunch of questions to go through and then talk to her about the best way to do the anaesthetic. It's completely normal to ask a 16yr old if there's any chance she could be pregnant so it may be worth mentioning that they'll ask her that/ would do a urine test if she's not 100% certain. Not all 16 year olds want a parent to come with them to the anaesthetic room and it's fine if they don't. Plan A will usually be to have a cannula inserted and an IV induction unless there's a particular reason to do a gas induction. Before going to sleep there'll be some paperwork to double check (consent form, etc), some monitoring to attach (sats probe, 3 ECG dots, BP cuff). If you do go into the anaesthetic room with her it's important not to seem nervous while she's awake or say anything daft like how much the needle will hurt (!) (honestly some parents are so unhelpful in the anaesthetic room!). A nurse/member of theatre staff would take you back out of the anaesthetic room as soon as she's asleep.
It's relatively unusual to need a GA for something like that, but guessing if they've had a good poke at it already it might be a bit sore to keep trying awake? Hope it goes smoothly.

I'm a bit surprised that any form of sedation would be needed in a 16 year old. Even toddlers will occasionally sit still for a foreign boy removal.

@Greybeardy it's a legal requirement to do a pregnancy test on every girl over 11 if they are having a GA.

Maybe she has some SEN, or sensory issues. My nephew has GA for things like this as he just wouldn't cope otherwise.

I’m 45 and recently had GA for the first time. I loved it! I was worried about waking up in a panic and not knowing where I was.

anyway it was great. I just remember them putting in a cannula and chatting to the anesthetist and then very very gently coming to with a nice nurse at my side. I don’t think I’ve felt more relaxed in my lifetime! I was only under for about 30 minutes and totally fine within 2 hours- gradually the sleepiness wore off. Got discharged soon after that. I was starving so be prepared for that and have snacks ready if she had a long fasting period.

the only bad thing was I was on such a high after, I struggled to sleep that night.

Be aware for vomiting after they come round

DS had his appendix out a couple of years ago. Went down with him, then back to the ward til he was in recovery. Waited for him to come round and they took him back to the ward. Came round starving (had been in a and e since 8am and the surgery was at 10pm). 2 bites of biscuit and vomited everywhere

I volunteered (pre-covid) at our local children's hospital as a parent helper. My job was to walk with the child (on a trolley) and a parent to the operating theatre and stay until the child was asleep, then escort the parent to the waiting area. I have seen many many children anaesthetised. At our hospital younger children were put to sleep with a mask, once asleep mum or dad gives a quick kiss/cuddle then leave - cannulation and intubation happens after they leave the room. Older ones are put to sleep via iv / pre cannulated.

Good luck, hope it goes well.

#edit to add - I did a few stints on recovery ward - prepare yourself that your DD could come round feeling anxious or even a little aggressive. It doesn't last long.

DD12 had been under 3 times (gromits, endoscopy, and teeth removal). In a nutshell, I held her hand, and it looked like she just fell asleep. She came round very quickly afterwards and was ready to leave in about an hour. You wouldn't have known anything had happened.

No SN. Its a silicone ear plug that had melted and we have tried 3x to get it out by suction and forceps but now there is a risk of eardrum bursting. I was surprised as well that the hospital said that

2 DC's ...5 GA's ....the ushering out the minute they go under was always the hardest bit !

One minute you are holding their hand/them ...next the nurse has your bag and coat and guiding you out of the room !

Ds16 was as high as a kite when he came round 🤣...

He kept telling me he loved me !

Not sure if relevent ...but with 1 DC I had a phone call to tell me to go back to the ward as DC was in recovery.

Took ages for him to get back to the ward...no problems in recovery....just no porters to bring him back.

It will be a very light anaesthetic.

I've had 7 general anaesthetics now in my life, it's all very simple. You're prepared for your op and they give you all the details such as not eating or drinking 12 hours prior aside from water, you're then taken through to theatre gowned up in your bed, asked to count to ten and by the time you get to 3 you're asleep.

Your naturally wake up once it's worn off after surgery, it's absolutely nothing to worry about.

Don't unnecessarily worry your daughter please, the less said the better, just reassure her that's it's all very routine and they've done it hundreds of times before.