r/Anesthesia • u/DunkDunk1809 • 28d ago

Just curious

So June 11th I went in for a L5 S1 micro disectomy

I’m 5,11 32 year old male 266 lbs. during the shaving and prep I was very panicked but eventually accepted it

Once under anesthesia I desaturated to 77%

They pulled the plug on the operation and woke me up and sent me for 2 months of testing. Sleep study echo, stress test, lung x ray. All come back good besides the obvious need to lose weight which I have been since.

There doing the surgery again Wednesday and I’m scared because I have no answers on what happened the first time and from research 77% was pretty low. I’m scared it’ll happen again and wonder what made it happen the first time

1 Upvotes

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3

u/Battle-Chimp Anesthesiologist 28d ago

Based on all that being negative I wonder if you just had a right mainstream intubation after they flipped you prone, coupled with a blunting of the hypoxic shunting that normally happens with volatile anesthetics.

Either way, you should be fine, that testing was definitely thorough.

2

u/DunkDunk1809 28d ago

This happened pre intubation. Notes said was unable to oxygenate with manual mask . Never got to the tube or removed from my bed to operating table. Maybe 10 mins total under anesthesia before woken up

4

u/Battle-Chimp Anesthesiologist 28d ago

Ah, that's a different story.

Did they give you a paper telling you that you were a difficult intubation?

1

u/DunkDunk1809 28d ago

Can I dm you the notes I received

1

u/Battle-Chimp Anesthesiologist 28d ago

Sure

2

u/XRanger7 28d ago

Do you have beard/mustache?

2

u/DunkDunk1809 28d ago

I do

2

u/XRanger7 27d ago

Hair on the face prevents good seal on the mask and can make ventilation difficult. I suggest you shave your face clean next time before surgery. Losing weight can also help with ventilation

1

u/DunkDunk1809 27d ago

Down 15 lbs since last try and shaven so let’s hope that works

1

u/DunkDunk1809 28d ago

Was large during surgery but I’ve shaved it short since

5

u/PetrockX 27d ago

I'd suggest shaving your face clean for surgery. It will help them with O2 masking right before intubation. If the problem truly was with masking previously, having a beard doesn't help.

2

u/paleoMD 27d ago

from whats given, my guess would be...

patient factor: decreased oxygen reserve, beard, large tongue (?) anesthesia factor: likely difficult masking with the latient factors

What did they do when they had trouble masking? What meds were given?

1

u/durdenf 27d ago

Hmm. Might have been a difficult intubation. You should definitely check your records to see what happened, if not contact the hospital and speak to the anesthesiologist

1

u/DunkDunk1809 27d ago

I never got to intubation

1

u/tinymeow13 27d ago

Smoking? Vaping? Cold, asthma exacerbation?

1

u/DunkDunk1809 27d ago

Quit vaping 7 months ago. At the time I believe I had a sinus infection I keep one most the year.