That’s an interesting take on it and I appreciate your viewpoint, but I fully believe it’s a stretch to say anesthesia is perfectly safe. My dog died when proper protocol was followed as well as blood tests etc, and the necropsy confirmed she was perfectly healthy but she was allergic to an anesthetic drug and had the worst reaction possible and in just a few short seconds her blood pressure rapidly dropped and her heart stopped beating. What’s more, every clinic in the city I live in loses dogs every year under anesthesia. Some clinics have told me they lose up to a dozen dogs every year, and many of them are dogs they considered to be healthy. And in many cases there’s no answers, even with a necropsy being done. But certainly there are cases of an underlying health issue discovered after the fact that would never be known unless it was specifically tested for. Things that blood tests don’t show - certain heart conditions, etc.
I think the confusion is how the word ‘rare’ is defined. The big research study with over 100,000 dogs showed that, even with dogs that are considered healthy, old age and small size really increase the odds of death under anesthesia. I believe it was 4 fold and 9 fold, respectively. Something like that. And even the discussions I’ve had with numerous vets, those are the factors they mention that are predictive of death under anesthesia. They don’t say it’s the same for all dogs as long as there’s proper protocol and blood tests. So from an odds point of view, I don’t believe it’s a simple as saying it’s all about proper protocol and blood work being done. There’s no way that’s the whole picture, and that’s what the research shows. So many dogs have died under anesthesia where things were done the right way, the right dosage of drugs, blood work, etc. There’s a risk every time a dog is put under anesthesia, and I believe it’s important to understand those risks as it applies to the specific dog. And that was the point I was trying to convey in my previous post. Anesthesia is not, and probably never will be, perfectly safe. At least that’s what a number of vets have told me.
I don’t want to make people afraid of anesthesia, but at the same time you have to be realistic about it and understand the risks as it applies to your specific dog. |