I’m sure everyone’s biggest fear about surgery is waking up whilst being operated on. And whilst this sounds like nothing more than a horror story, it is said to occur in around 1 patient per 19,000 that undergoes surgery.
It’s called anaesthesia awareness. And it’ll all begin with you seeing a very bright light. Then you’ll start to become aware of your surrounding and you’ll begin to piece things together pretty quickly from here. Lucky for most though, you’ll experience little to no physical discomfort and you’ll be back under in around 5 minutes.
But 18% of people who were questioned about their anaesthesia awareness experience confirmed that they felt pain and discomfort during the surgery, and many developed post traumatic symptoms such as increased stress, nightmares, and flashbacks. Anaesthesia awareness is usually as a result of an issue with the sedative or paralytic. If it’s the paralytic which is at fault, the anaesthesiologist is usually pretty quick to pick up on this, as you’ll no longer be in a paralysed state. But if the sedative fails, this is when it gets scary. You’re better off with both of the chemicals failing rather than just the sedative. If the sedative and the sedative only wears off, you’ll be aware of what is happening to you and your surroundings, but you won’t be able to move.
There are ways and means of preventing something like this happening, such as keeping your medical records up to date, not drinking alcohol and following your doctors instructions very carefully. But despite this, there is no way to be 100% certain you can avoid this happening.
