Anaesthesia awareness is a rare condition sometimes found in patients who are able to recall or feel the events of surgery that they underwent under general anaesthesia. This patient awareness and their ability to recall the pain of surgery or the ongoing events surrounding them during their surgery is known as Anaesthesia awareness.
Here are some lesser known facts about anaesthesia awareness:
General anaesthesia applications at the time of surgery were first developed and incorporated by William TG Morton in the years 1845 and 1846. At the same time, Horace Wells also contributed to its development in the year 1845. Both used ether and nitrous oxide for this purpose. This has been a revolutionary step in the history of medical science.
It is owing to the development of general anaesthesia that surgeries could be performed on human beings that make humans unresponsive to external pain and surgical stimuli.
Anaesthesia awareness is also termed as Intra-operative awareness. Post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia etc. are some of the problems that patients suffer from after experiencing anaesthesia awareness.
Anaesthesia awareness amongst patients is very rare, estimated to occur for about 1-2 per thousand patients. Even fewer may wake up completely during general anaesthesia. The experience is terrifying and psychologically painful for most patients leading many patients to seek psychiatric help.
The extent to which a patient can recall his or her surgery experiences can vary from very fuzzy and brief memories to very detailed recollections that could include conversations. The latter is most rare as mentioned.
The earliest reports of anaesthesia awareness date back to the initial years when Morton himself had been performing surgeries. Back then, anaesthesia was not developed as it is today and patients were often in a half asleep state.
Anaesthesia awareness can occur when the sedatives wear off after a certain time or fail to keep the patient paralyzed. In the latter case, the patient may start moving while in the former, a patient may be aware of his surroundings but unable to move. However, neither can cause pain and only a mild amount of pressure can be felt.
People who are addicted to or consume narcotic pain medications due to suffering or chronic pain or even have a history of alcohol or drug abuse etc. should notify their surgeons before any surgery is performed. Such people need altered dosage of anaesthesia as necessary in order to prevent such cases of anaesthetic awareness.
People who have experienced anaesthetic awareness and suffering from any sort of psychological stress should always contact a therapist to ensure that issues are addressed on time.
A lot of people mistake anaesthesia awareness with the events occurring just before being taken into the operation room or being awoken right after surgery and being taken out of the room. Dreaming under anaesthesia also occurs in some patients which are sometimes mistaken for awareness.
One must realise that it is the responsibility of the anaesthesia provider to ensure that the patient receives the right dosage and monitor brain activity in order to know whether a patient becomes aware of his or her surroundings during the surgery. Patients should not fear surgery due to such cases because nowadays it is much rarer. Moreover, one can be assured that anaesthesia in surgeries has become much safer than it was even 2 decades ago owing to advancements in medical science, pharmacology and technology.
