• Question: Has anyone ever woken up in surgery

    Asked by Xx Ali Bill xX to Kevin, Ted, S. S., Laura, Ellen, Andrea on 5 Mar 2019. This question was also asked by Jessica109, Hazel1597.
    • Photo: Kevin OBrien

      Kevin OBrien answered on 5 Mar 2019:

      Yes, but it is becoming less common.
      Newer pumps allow the precise amount of hypnotic (sleeping drug) to be administered to keep the patient asleep.
      Awareness sensors can also be used to approximately measure how awake the patient is.
      Previously, it would have been the job of the anaesthetist to monitor signs from the patient and adjust the drug infusion rates.

    • Photo: Ellen Simmons

      Ellen Simmons answered on 6 Mar 2019:

      It is very unlikely nowadays! Plus, hospitals are trying to do as many surgeries as possible with the person awake (but with a local anaesthetic that numbs the area) as this is safer and quicker for recovery. So no pain, and also no worry that you will wake up without the doctor noticing!

    • Photo: Laura Farina

      Laura Farina answered on 7 Mar 2019:

      Yes, it happened in the past and it can happen if the things are not done in the correct way. But it is very rare and during the surgery there is always a doctor specialized in keeping the patient asleep; this doctor is called anesthetist.

    • Photo: Andrea Pacheco

      Andrea Pacheco answered on 11 Mar 2019: last edited 11 Mar 2019 5:12 pm

      Yes it can happen. But sometimes surgeries are done when the patient is awake… do you know nowadays some brain surgeries can be done using just local anaesthesia? there are not studies about whether is better to use general or local anaesthesia… it is a very interesting question, I might think about it the coming days

    • Photo: Ted Burke

      Ted Burke answered on 11 Mar 2019:

      I don’t know a lot about this subject, so I was interested to read the others’ answers. I have heard that a lot of people who have major operations under a general anaesthetic suffer complications due to the anaesthetic rather than the surgery itself, so it’s desirable if possible to perform an operation using only a local anaesthetic or what they call twilight sedation (a light dose of general anaesthetic that means the patient isn’t fully unconscious, but isn’t really aware of the operation and doesn’t feel any pain or discomfort).

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