Did it happen to you or anyone you know?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anesthesia_awareness
http://www.anesthesiaawareness.com/what-is-AA.html
I've had surgery in general anesthesia twice already, without any problems, but I was a child so I wasn't aware of any such risk... Sounds scary though
Awareness occurs in 20,000-40,000 patients out of every 20 million US annual surgeries every year[1] when patients have anesthesia that is inadequate to keep them unconscious during an operation. In this situation, the patient may feel the pain or pressure of surgery, hear conversations, or feel as if they cannot breathe. The patient may be unable to communicate any distress because they have been given a paralytic/muscle relaxant. If anesthesia awareness does occur about 42% feel the pain of the operation, 94% experience panic/anxiety and 70% experience lasting psychological symptoms.[2]
Anesthesia Awareness is probably the most helpless and terrifying feeling in the world. It occurs when one is supposed to be completely asleep under full general anesthesia, but the brain is not asleep at all. Your body is almost always fully paralyzed; you have a tube down your throat; and you can't speak, breathe, or move or do anything to alert the doctors that you are awake. If you do manage to move, as I did, a disastrously common response from the anesthesia provider is to simply administer one or more doses of paralytic drug; not considering the possibility that the patient is awake; i.e. experiencing Anesthesia Awareness. A paralytic drug administered while the patient is conscious feels like ignited jet fuel coursing through your veins
I've had surgery in general anesthesia twice already, without any problems, but I was a child so I wasn't aware of any such risk... Sounds scary though
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