Is anesthesia safe—and what happens if something goes wrong?
Modern anesthesia is generally very safe, but no anesthetic is without risk. Anesthesia professionals monitor you throughout care and must be prepared to recognize and treat breathing, heart, circulation, or other emergencies promptly.
Modern anesthesia is generally very safe, but no anesthetic is risk-free. Safety depends on recognizing risk before the procedure, monitoring continuously, and having trained people, medications, equipment, and a plan to treat a problem immediately if one occurs.
Quick Summary
What protects patients
- Preanesthetic evaluation and an individualized plan.
- Continuous attention to oxygenation, breathing, circulation, and other vital functions.
- Immediate access to qualified clinicians who can diagnose and treat changing physiology.
- Emergency airway equipment, medications, immediate rescue capability, and a plan for additional care needs or safe transfer to another facility.
What does “rescue capability” mean?
Rescue capability is the ability to recognize that a patient is deteriorating and treat the problem immediately—not simply call for help. Depending on the emergency, that may require supporting the airway and breathing, treating dangerous blood-pressure or heart-rhythm changes, giving emergency medications, or stabilizing the patient while additional resources are mobilized.
Why the care setting matters
The same drug can create the same physiologic emergency whether it is given in a hospital operating room, an outpatient center, a procedure suite, or an office-based procedure setting. Safe care therefore depends on matching the patient and procedure to a setting with appropriate personnel, monitoring, equipment, recovery capability, and emergency planning.
Questions to ask
- Who will recognize and treat an anesthesia emergency?
- What emergency equipment and medications are immediately available?
- What is the plan if I need a higher level of care?
Outside resources
Sources
Reviewed By
- Physician reviewer:
- Russell McAllister, MD, FASA Verify certification and MOCA status (opens in a new tab)
- Board certification:
- Anesthesiology — American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA)
- Last reviewed: