D&C with or without general anesthesia?

carroetchen

I found out last week that I have an anembryonic pregnancy and I am thinking of having either a D&C of take mysotropol on Friday. My OB office offered me to have the D&C with local or general anesthesia. They said most patients prefer local and that the procedure itself doesn't take more than 5 minutes. Has anyone done this with local anesthesia? How was it?

UPDATE: I decided to go with the D&C with local anesthesia. It went well, barely any pain and the doctor was great. It took less than 20 minutes. I made a new post with my experience in case anyone else is considering it and would like to know how it is.

bntfroggie

I had my D&C with general anesthesia.  This is just my opinion, but I don't I'd want to remember anything about the procedure no matter how minor.

thistle8677

I was heavily sedated and sleeping through my d&c. They did not have to use a breathing tube for me. I did not opt for the in clinic surgery, I went to the hospital. I knew I could not handle being even a little bit coherent through the procedure.
Best of luck to you, and I am so sorry for your loss.

carroetchen

Thank you for your responses. I am still jumping between taking medication or a D&C and the between general and or local anesthesia. The options are overwhelming! This is already a difficult desicion and you have to decide between so many options.

bntfroggie

Yeah I'm surprised they are giving you so many options.  Did they go over the benefits of each?  Maybe if they describe the options to you in full detail you will know the answer.  That's how I decided, but I only had the choice between a D&C and Natural miscarriage. 

carroetchen

The OB mentione that most patients choose local anesthesia because is faster and doesn't need much recovery time. The general anesthesia is mostly chosen if you don't want to be awake during the procedure.

bntfroggie

Mine was definitely a deep sleep anesthesia, which I think I mistook for general anesthesia in your original post.  I read about the local anesthesia and it seems like you would be awake throughout the whole thing, I can't speak to the recover time for a local anesthesia, but when they put me under the procedure itself was 25 minutes, and then I was only in recovery for maybe an hour and slept the rest of the day, which I was emotionally and physically drained anyway and welcomed sleep.

Sorry I can't be of more help and so sorry you are going through this.

carroetchen

This really helps, thank you. If I choose a D&C I think I will chose the local one. I am afraid of general anesthesia.

bntfroggie

Good luck with your decision, I know it isn't an easy one to make.

gapeachrn

I'm a nurse in the recovery room and I've had a D&C two times with general anesthesia. I've seen the good, the bad and the ugly. I would pick general, but that's me. I've been in the room for a local D&C and the person had a good amount of pain. I think the ONLY good part about having a D&C is you get good drugs with general. Even with general anesthesia you dont get a lot of drugs because it doesn't last long.That's my personal opinion.

spatter1

I was back and forth between natural and D&C and ultimately decided the stress and pain of waiting for my body to realize what was going on was just too much. We had already had a week of anxiety waiting for our viability u/s to confirm the loss. I went with general. Like other posters have said I just couldn't imagine being awake or feeling any of what was about to happen. My nurses and doctor were great, and I went home slept almost the whole rest of the day. Again as others have said, I really appreciated the sleep after all of the emotional stress that we had experienced. Even my husband slept for hours! It's such a personal choice and you just have to do what you're most comfortable with. Good luck and I'm so sorry that we're all in this boat.

carroetchen

Thanks for your comment. I went with a D&C with local anesthesia. It went well (under the circumstances), barely any pain and it was quick. I made a new post describing my experience in case anyone else is considering. I am very sorry that you are going through this and I hope you will all have healthy babies once you decide to try again.