40% of Patients with General Anesthesia Experience ‘Brain Fog’ or POCD | Minnesota

The best way to avoid “brain fog” or postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) related to general anesthesia is not to use it at all.

Surgery patients are routinely exposed to up to 30% more anesthetic drugs than needed in a study published by board-certified anesthesiologist, Dr. Barry Friedberg.

40M patients undergo anesthesia every year for major surgery. 40% of them (16M) experience ‘brain fog’ or postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), likely from too much anesthesia. That 16 million patients every year have underlying, previously undiagnosed preoperative conditions is an untenable assertion, yet that is the “standard” response when anesthesia providers are asked if their or their loved one’s postop mental dysfunction could be from too much anesthesia.

“The bottom line,” says Friedberg, “Don’t let your parents, your spouse or anybody you love, especially over 50, get general anesthesia without a brain monitor or you may NEVER speak to that person again. The mind you save could be theirs, or even your own!”

“Although the brain monitor helps to ‘control’ their individual anesthetic dose and avoid over medication, the best way to avoid ‘brain fog’ or postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) related to general anesthesia is not to use it at all,” says Dr. Steven Shu.

Dr. Shu performs all cosmetic surgeries under local tumescent anesthesia with IV sedation only, which does not cause “brain fog” or postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD).

Liposuction Tumescent Technique in Twin Cities, Minnesota

Many people don’t know that the modern tumescent liposuction was not invented by the plastic surgeon; it was actually invented by a dermatologist. Dr. Jeffrey Klein is a dermatologic surgeon practicing in California and invented the technique for tumescent local anesthesia and tumescent liposuction. Prior to1986, all liposuction surgeries were done under general anesthesia, were associated with significant surgical blood loss and prolonged post-operative recovery of two or more weeks. The advent of tumescent liposuction permitted liposuction to be done totally by local anesthesia with virtually no blood loss. Within a few years tumescent liposuction became the worldwide standard of care.

Many potential dangers and risks of liposuction are associated with general anesthesia, excessively large volumes of liposuction done on a single day, and combining liposuction with other unrelated procedures. Performing tumescent liposuction avoids all these risks factors. There is no general anesthesia associated post-operative nausea and vomiting. Patients typically return to work in one to two days and need only wear postoperative elastic support garments after their surgery. Many people are off their pain pills in a few days or even the next day and turn to Tylenol for postoperative analgesic. Today tumescent liposuction continues to be the world’s safest and most comfortable form of liposuction with the quickest recovery.

 

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