“Is high blood pressure bad for anesthesia?”
I have issues with high blood pressure and need to have surgery for my gallbladder and be under general anesthesia. The surgery is scheduled for this coming Monday, but I'm nervous about my blood pressure and how it will be monitored during surgery. Will my high blood pressure cause issues for the surgery, including the anesthesia?
8 Answers
Yes, but they should be prepared. Take your meds with water that morning.
Hypertension can be treated intraoperatively — as a patient you should assure you are compliant with medications based on your doctor’s suggestions, get some rest in the coming days and try not to worry — post surgery remember that efforts made to improve your health will put you in a better situation in event you are in need of future anesthesia related procedures
If your blood pressure is too high the Doctor will most likely not do the surgery. I can tell you that I do not do any type of surgery if a person has high blood pressure problem. You need to work on your blood pressure before you have any surgery done. I wish you well, oledochouse
Your high blood pressure should not be a problem as long as you take your usual medications before the surgery. Your anesthesiologist will be watching your blood pressure continually during the procedure, and treating it with fast-acting agents as needed before, during and after the surgery.
No. Complications from high blood pressure are very rare. Talk to your anesthesiologist about which blood pressure meds to take or not take.
Many patients have high blood pressure and are on medications for that condition. Having treated hypertension should not be a significant issue for your gall bladder surgery per se. However, keep in mind I do not have a complete history or a list of medications that you are taking so my answer is also not complete. A greater problem for you would be if you have high blood pressure and you do not take medications. So long as you are appropriately treated, you should be fine during your anesthetic. Typically, blood pressure is monitored with an automated blood pressure cuff, which I typically check every 2 1/2 minutes, though the range can be every minute to as long as every 5 minutes (vital signs during anesthesia are recorded every 5 minutes by many anesthesiologists).
Generally, prior to any surgery you will meet with the anesthesiologist and/or the surgeon will get a clearance from your doctors that you are stable from medical standpoint for the surgery. All vital signs including your blood pressure are closely monitored during the surgery. Typically, you may even be allowed to take your normal blood pressure medicine prior to surgery depending when it is scheduled. Most anesthesia used causes the blood pressure to drop slightly and therefore it is carefully monitored. Fluids are usually given as well to normalize your fluid and electrolyte status. If you have any other concerns or questions prior to your surgery, please let your surgeon, internist, or anesthesiologist know.
Your blood pressure will be constantly monitored during surgery by the anesthesiologist. They will give medications through your IV as necessary to maintain it in an appropriate range. If your blood pressure is too high prior to surgery (greater than 180/100), it is possible that your surgery will be cancelled.
There are no greater risks of high blood pressure during surgery than there are outside of surgery.
There are no greater risks of high blood pressure during surgery than there are outside of surgery.
