Guidance on behaviour after general anesthesia

Supervision:  

On the day of the operation, you must NEVER LEAVE YOUR CHILD UNSUPERVISED. Avoid physical exertion on the day of the anaesthesia. Ensure that your child is under constant supervision until the following day. Your child must not participate actively in road traffic again until 24 hours have passed. Please also follow the anaesthetist’s instructions in this regard.

Pain:  

Despite careful treatment, mild pain and a slight fever may occur, as well as swelling of the lips, discomfort in the jaw joint, cracked corners of the mouth, a sore throat, nosebleeds caused by intubation, or hoarseness. These harmless complications will resolve within a few days. If necessary, you may also give your child painkillers (paracetamol or ibuprofen only).

Eating and drinking:    

Thanks to modern anaesthetics, nausea has become relatively rare. You should initially give your child water in small sips. Only once they are tolerating liquids well should you give your child something to eat again.

 Local anaesthesia:

If your child has had teeth extracted, there is a risk that, after the anaesthesia wears off, they may accidentally bite their lip or cheek, or nibble at their lip due to the irritating sensation. This can lead to very painful wounds and swelling. You should therefore keep a very close eye on your child after the anaesthetic and only give them hard or hot food again once their lip is no longer numb.

Journey home:    

If travelling home by car, you should arrange to be picked up so that you can look after your child undisturbed during the journey.

Secondary bleeding:

In the event of continued bleeding, apply the sterile swabs we have provided – or, if these are not available, a gauze bandage, a clean handkerchief or similar – to the wound and have your child bite down firmly for 10 minutes. Do not let them lie down; instead, sit them upright! Under no circumstances should you keep checking the wound or the bleeding, nor should they constantly spit out blood or rinse their mouth. If the bleeding has not stopped after an hour, please contact us.

Emergency:    

In urgent emergencies, please contact:

· the surgery during normal opening hours

· Dr Zenner on 0621-86399900 or 0163-1369022

· the dental emergency service at the Specialist Medical Centre, Collini-Straße 11 (no prior telephone booking required)

· the paediatric emergency practice at Mannheim University Hospital, Building 31

We will try to contact you by telephone over the next few days to ask how your child is doing.