In the older (1960’s and 1970’s) days of anesthesia there was a lot of fear about ‘going to sleep and never waking up.’  And, I suppose, back then some of those fears were probably warranted.  However, there has been a revolution in anesthesia safety in the past decade.

Now, patients are monitored with meticulous precision using many different parameters (oxygenation, carbon dioxide expired, etc.).  This one major change in anesthesia standards has led to a dramatic increase in patient safety, and I am happy to say that these days general anesthesia is an extremely safe way to undergo surgical procedures.