risks of general anesthetic during pregnancy?

Hi All,

I'm extremely worried about this and was hoping to hear of anyone elses' experience.
I am currently suffering from a Bartholin's Cyst which has not gone away with antibiotics and my OB has recommended day surgery tomorrow morning to remove the cyst. He mentioned a very slight risk of going into early labour, but has also said that the there is a risk of this same thing happening if I leave this infection unchecked.

Has anyone has experience with being put under General Anesthetic while pregnant? How significant is the risk?

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. I'm @ 28 week.

Thanks,
Neuri

Neuri,
I had a cervical stitch placed in at 14 weeks and had a general, although the anaestist was hoping that I would happy with a spinal..(but he said I didnt have to until 20 weeks). Is there any chance of having a spinal instead of the general?
Bec

Hi Bec,

No idea. I'll ask the doc tomorrow. I don't know what the difference is between the two. Maybe because this is nearly an external cyst they might not consider doing a spinal. Thanks for your response!

Neuri

A friend of the family has a history of diabetes and is so unwell she has spinals to remove toes sorry TMI. Depending on where the cyst is on the body and whether the numbing will be effective enough...but from the discussion I had with the anaestist is was quite common to do this with pregnant ladies
Bec

No Idea...But I just wanted to give you a big :hug: and wish you and bubs well during the op.

Thanks everyone who replied :) This forum is the best for answering questions so quickly.

To conclude from my first post- all is now well. I didn't have to have general anesthetic in the end as my cyst ruptured on its own as I was getting undressed to go into surgery. I was all "Hoorah!", thinking I'd be able to turn around and go home. My OB had other ideas. They ended up giving me mild sedation and a local, with a few stictches. No general, which is what we were aiming for. Bub is just fine.

Hopefully this will be my last 'drama' for the pregnancy lol.

If anyone else suffers from the same sort of cyst (Bartholin's), my advice is to get the minor surgery required to get rid of it once and for all if you're thinking about having a baby. It's full on if you have it while preggers.

Cheers,
Neuri.

Fantastic neuri,
I hope the your pregnancy is stress free from now on lol
Bec