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Not medical advice. Possible anaphylaxis: use epinephrine and call 911.Read the full note

Epitope Health teaches what published research and FDA labels say, and how strong that evidence is. It cannot know your situation, and nothing here is a diagnosis, a dose for one person, or a decision about whether a food, medicine or procedure suits one person. Those decisions belong with a licensed clinician who can examine you.

If a reaction is happening now, use epinephrine if it has been prescribed and call 911. After surgery, trouble breathing or chest pain needs 911. If you are thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988, any time.

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Nervous about anesthesia itself?

The drugs, awareness, nausea, malignant hyperthermia and delirium, in plain numbers.

7 guides, about 17 minutes in all

Read this first

The drugs you may hear about

Propofol, midazolam, fentanyl, ketamine, dexmedetomidine, sevoflurane, rocuronium and sugammadex, and local anesthetics, in the words of their FDA labels.

Read the guideFor clinicians

Then, in this order

  1. Awareness under anesthesia

    What large studies found about waking during general anesthesia, and the role of muscle relaxants.

    2 min read3 sourcesFor clinicians

  2. Nausea and vomiting after surgery

    The four risk factors teams look for, how much each preventive step helps, and what large trials found.

    2 min read4 sourcesFor clinicians

  3. Malignant hyperthermia

    What malignant hyperthermia is, what triggers it, how it is inherited, and the antidote.

    2 min read3 sourcesFor clinicians

  4. Delirium and thinking after surgery

    What postoperative delirium and cognitive change are, and what trials of anesthesia type, brain monitoring and medicines have found.

    2 min read7 sourcesFor clinicians

  5. TIVA or inhaled anesthesia

    Two ways to keep someone under general anesthesia, and what large reviews of randomized trials found about safety, nausea and recovery.

    2 min read6 sourcesFor clinicians

  6. Allergic reactions during anesthesia

    How often anaphylaxis happens during surgery, the usual culprits, and why food allergies and propofol come up.

    2 min read7 sourcesFor clinicians

Questions for your anesthesia team

A printable list, with space to write the answers.

Open it

Other places to start