Metal Mouth Message Board

anyone know the mortality rate for jaw surgery?


Thanks

This is a very good question
I was wondering the same

The mortality rate isn't measured for jaw surgery per se, since there isn't anything risky or complicated about the surgery itself, but for the risk of dying from the anesthesia used in the operating room - which is roughly 1 in 100,000 as reported by the Journal of Clinical Anesthesiology

I wonder how long jaw surgery takes?
That would be how long you would have to be under anesthesia

Jaw surgery takes 2 to 8 hours, depending on what needs to be done and the skill level of the surgeon.

Your risk from jaw surgery is exactly what 'theKurp' said. The risk is almost all general anesthesia. You could encounter bleeding problems intra or post op, but this is why its important to have this done in a hospital setting and why you are typically hospitalized afterwards.

ALL SURGERY HAS RISK. Generally speaking, jaw surgery is extremely safe when done by somebody that has experience.

There are other horrible things that could happen during surgery, such as:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anesthesia_awareness

Anesthesia awareness is a situation where under general anesthesia, due to non optimal dosage of drugs, your muscles are paralyzed (so the doctors are sure that you are asleep), but you are conscious and can feel and remember everything (you simply can't move or scream to notify them that you are awake). Some people who go through anesthesia awareness develop PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) which sometime ends with a suicide...

I don't understand why they don't keep brain scanners in the operating room to 100% be sure that you are indeed asleep during the whole operation. Without a brain scanner, the only signs that you can feel the pain of surgery are increased heart rate and tears.

I had watched one too many medical/surgical shows on television prior to having my jaw surgery. When I went in for pre-admission testing, I told the anesthesiologist about my fear of anesthesia awareness. He explained that it is very uncommon in people without existing health conditions and also very uncommon in people who've had general anesthesia without complications in the past. But he noted my fear on the chart. That may be why they ended up giving me two doses of versed prior to even being wheeled into the OR. They wanted to make sure this girl didn't wake up...ha!

He also explained to me that a lot of people wake up during surgeries in which they believe they are under "general anesthesia" but in actuality they are only under sedation. They don't understand the difference because they believe that being put to sleep is all the same thing.

I woke up several times during my plate removal surgery but was numbed up and didn't feel a thing. My oral surgeon laughed at me afterwards and asked "were you in pain?" When I told him "no" he said, "well you sure did keep looking around the room alot, seeing who was in there with you, and going back to sleep." I was under light sedation for this follow-up procedure (at my own request). We all laugh about it now.

I had surgery when I was 16 and experienced awareness. It happened at the end of the surgery. I could hear them talk. I wanted to say something or lift my arm but couldn't. My surgeon didn't believe me when I told him after wards until I rephrased exactly what had been said. Apparently I was weaned off too soon. When I had my jaw surgery at age 33 I asked for two consultations with an anesthesiologist beforehand to make sure this wouldn't happen to me again. I explained I was afraid. Even right before I was wheeled in to the operating room I asked again if they could make absolutely sure that I wasn't going to wake up or be aware before entering in the recovery room. Well, I guess they did because I don't remember a thing. I thanked my anesthesiologist a day later and he told me that they administered some extra drug which makes you forget anything that happened right before, during and after surgery.

"In a typical clinical procedure, known as balanced anesthesia, the patient is premedicated with a sedative intended to relieve pre-operative anxiety and facilitate the induction of anesthesia itself (often this is a benzodiazepine such as diazepam or midazolam; otherwise, a barbiturate such as thiopental or nonbenzodiazepine such as propofol may perform this function). Sedation is followed by the induction of general anesthesia by intravenous injection of a sedative, narcotic (e.g., morphine, fentanyl, alfentanyl), or ketamine. In addition, a nondepolarizing curare-like derivative (e.g., vecuronium, d-turbocurarine) or a depolarizing drug (e.g., succinylcholine) is administered to induce muscle paralysis. After intubation and connection to a ventilator for artificial respiration, general anesthesia may be maintained by a mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide, often in combination with a volatile agent (e.g., halothane, enflurane, or isoflurane) or intravenous drug. At the conclusion of the surgery, muscle relaxation is reversed (e.g., by neostigmine or other anticholinesterase), and normal (unassisted) breathing is restored. In addition, the patient may be given an analgesic agent (e.g., morphine) to manage any acute pain experienced postoperatively"