ABSTRACT
Complications and emergencies sometimes occur in spite of appropriate anesthetic protocols and diligent patient monitoring and support but, ideally, the anesthetist should be able to identify and treat complications before they become emergencies. Complications and emergencies occurring in the central nervous, cardiovascular and respiratory systems can become immediately life-threatening. Excessive anesthetic depth can precipitate all of the other potential complications and can rapidly become an emergency rather than a complication. Excessive anesthetic depth is easier to prevent than to treat! The most common cause of excessive anesthetic depth is a true over-dose of anesthetic drugs as would occur from a dosage miscalculation or an excessively high vaporizer setting. Emergencies include arrhythmias that can be fatal, arrhythmias that have a major impact on blood pressure, profound hypotension from any cause and severe blood loss.
