Does a patient respond to general anesthesia the same way every time?

You ask a really good question.People do tend to recover or respond to general anaesthesia in a similar way.  Some people get postoperative  nausea, for example, and some don't. This is a consistent personal response.Where is can be different is in one of three areas:1. The type of procedure you're having.  If it's a painful operation, the anaesthetist will use a lot more narcotic  pain relief in the surgery, and this can make you feel groggy, sick or spaced out after surgery. Less painful surgery needs less of these drugs so you bounce back a lot quicker.2. Different anaesthetists use different drug cocktails, and frankly some anaesthetists are better than others.3. Your own health and mind set.  If your mood is good, and the experience is positive you tend to bounce back.  If you're having a procedure for a serious illness, or have a health issue, then it can affect how you recover from the anaesthetic and surgery.All the best.Howard Webster

If you have any difficulty with anesthesia previously this will be reported to the anesthesiologist. Adjustments would be made in the regimen to make the outcome better the second time around.

If you have had no problems before it is unlikely you will have issues again. The anaesthetist is the key here and if you have concerns you could get your PS to arrange for you to meet his anaesthetist before surgery to reassure you. Even better if he/she could see the your previous notes.

Great question. Seems like you have tolerated GA (general anesthesia) well, without any of the dreaded intra-op awareness (waking up in the middle of the op), slow emergence (difficulty waking up at the end of the op) and/or post-op nausea & vomiting.  Individuals who regularly partake of alcohol, recreational drugs and/or medications, which are metabolized by the liver, frequently require additional anesthetic agents, according to my staff Anesthetists.  They also maintain that psychological states such as anxiety, depression may contribute to a more difficult anesthetic induction.  Emotional lability might also be present, if you are brought back to the O.R. on an unscheduled basis because of an adverse event, such as infection, bleeding,, etc. Such circumstances are definitely stressful.  Mature >65y patients may have other comorbidities (medical conditions), which need to be optimized pre-op, in order to ensure a safe passage.  Aging undoubtedly changes not only our outward physical appearance but also the internal milieu.  Take charge of your health, exert moderation, empower your aging and you will do well.  

This is an excellent and a very perceptive question. The answer is no but it's hard to pin down because all the conditions are not the same each time. "General anesthesia" is not a thing that is done the same way every time and for every patient. The length of the procedure as well as the type of procedure may be different. There are differences in the postoperative issues including pain and breathing. The same patient is not exactly the same metabolically or health-wise at a different time. Other variables can come from things like different medication/drug use or chronic things like alcohol or tobacco use. In general if you did well with general anesthesia you will tend to do well with it at a later time. If you have problems with general anesthesia you will tend to have problems again. One solution is to avoid general anesthesia for procedures that can be done with local anesthesia or local anesthesia with IV sedation. Prolonged effect of local anesthetics can also help with postoperative pain issues.Interestingly there are conditions like altitude sickness that do not affect the same person the same way every time or even at the same altitude. Another example would be sleep deprivation. Even things like healing or scar formation are not the same in all patients and all the time. Good modern medical science is recognizing that everyone is different and responds differently to supposedly the same treatment and that there are more variables to deal with than previously thought.