You might even dream during surgery and only think you experienced awareness. Anesthesia awareness during surgery can happen for a few different reasons. It can be more common in patients with multiple medical conditions, and certain surgeries or circumstances increase the risk of awareness because the usual dose of required anesthesia cannot be used safely.
People who have experienced awareness under anesthesia report different levels of awareness. Some people have brief, vague recollections. Others remember a specific moment of surgery or their surroundings. In some cases, people recall a feeling of pressure. Patients also are more likely to experience awareness with procedures that do not involve general anesthesia. Your surgery might not require general anesthesia, but you might need sedation to be comfortable during the procedure.
The effects of sedation, also called twilight sedation and monitored anesthesia care, can include being sleepy but awake and able to talk, or being asleep and unaware of your surroundings. The recovery from sedation is similar to that of general anesthesia, but patients usually wake up quicker and their recovery time is shorter.
Another type of anesthesia is called regional anesthesia, which numbs a large part of the body such as from the waist down. This is the type of pain control often used by women in labor and delivery. People recovering from this type of anesthesia sometimes experience headaches as they recover.
If your surgery requires only local anesthetic, you will be given an injection of a medication that numbs the small area where your procedure is being performed. Why is eating before surgery an issue? Because the body normally has reflexes that prevent food from being aspirated or inhaled into the lungs when it's swallowed or regurgitated thrown up.
But anesthetic medications can suspend these reflexes, which could cause food to become inhaled into the lungs if there is vomiting or regurgitation under anesthesia. Sometimes, though, the anesthesiologist will say it's OK to drink clear liquids or take specific medications a few hours before surgery. To ensure your safety during the surgery, you'll need to answer all of the anesthesiologist's questions as honestly and thoroughly as possible. Things that may seem harmless could interact with or affect the anesthesia and how you react to it.
You also can ask plenty of your own questions. If you don't meet the anesthesiologist before the day of the operation, you may want to ask your doctor or surgeon the following questions beforehand so you can have all the answers you need:.
You might be given a sedative before going into the operating room, but for minor procedures, this might not be needed. In fact, some people may prefer not to be sedated. The decision of whether or not to sedate you beforehand is made by the anesthesiologist, using your input. If general anesthesia is used, the anesthesiologist will start transitioning you from the normal awake state to the sleepy state of anesthesia. This is called induction , which is usually done by either injecting medicine through an IV or by inhaling gases through a mask.
If, like lots of people, you're afraid of needles, the good news is that you may not have to get one while awake. Anesthesiologists often will begin the induction process by using a breathing mask to help you relax. The mask delivers medication to make you sleepy before and during the surgery. That way, you won't be awake when the IV is inserted for general anesthesia or when a shot is given to numb a certain part or area of the body for local or regional anesthesia.
When using general anesthesia, the anesthesiologist will monitor your vital signs, continue to deliver anesthesia, and keep you as comfortable as possible throughout the operation. Once the operation or procedure is over, you'll be taken to the recovery room or PACU post-anesthesia care unit. In the PACU, nurses and the anesthesiologist will monitor your condition very closely to make sure you are making a smooth and comfortable transition from an anesthetized state to an awakened state.
If you had general anesthesia or were sedated, don't expect to be fully awake right away — it may take a while and you may doze off for a bit.
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