“What if I don’t wake up”, “Anesthesia kills neurons, my memory deteriorates”, “What if I blurt out all my secrets in this state” … We have many fears associated with the state of anesthesia. But are all of them relevant to reality? Let’s analyze the most common ones.
1. “What if I wake up during the operation?” There is such a possibility. In the US alone, this occurs in 20 to 000 surgical patients each year. Approximately one in three of these patients, regaining consciousness, experiences discomfort, fear and even panic. Someone himself recalls what happened to him in the operating room, someone under hypnosis, but there are many such people, and in the USA there is even a society of those who have experienced a state of uncontrolled awakening during the operation.
It is dangerous because it affects the quality of later life – a post-stress syndrome may develop. However, sometimes patients are woken up by anesthesiologists themselves. For example, during operations on the spinal cord, a person may be asked to follow several commands from a neurosurgeon – move their fingers, nod, and so on. After that, he falls asleep again and after the operation he no longer remembers anything about this episode.
2. “What if I start hallucinating?” Previously, this really happened, and that is why there is such a “turnover” among drugs for anesthesia: many of them left the market. For example, ketamine caused terrible visions, so over time it was used only in animals (they, like children under 5 years old, do not have nightmares). Modern drugs do not cause any hallucinations.
3. “They say he gives you erotic visions?” A single short-acting anesthetic, sombrevin, had such an effect. He gave sexual visions of such strength and brightness that after anesthesia, a person even for a while became uninteresting in ordinary sex. Fortunately (or unfortunately), this drug is not currently on the market.
4. “Suddenly, after the operation, the memory will worsen?” There is evidence that almost all anesthetics damage brain cells to some extent – some neurons die. However, this relationship has not yet been clearly traced: it all depends on the age of the patient and his state of health.
Suppose a person after a traumatic brain injury underwent several operations under general anesthesia, and he developed memory problems. What was the reason for this – trauma or anesthesia? Most likely an injury. However, memory disturbances and reduced concentration may persist for several hours or even days after surgery.
One study says that of the 600 Americans who had heart surgery, half suffered from memory loss and cognitive impairment. But then again – during heart surgery, such a side effect is not only anesthesia, but also artificial blood circulation.
5. “You can get hooked on general anesthesia. In fact, it does not cause any drug addiction. Even drug addicts around the world are quietly operated under anesthesia, and this does not become the reason for their return to potent substances.
6. “What if I blurt out too much under anesthesia?” Indeed, people sometimes mumble something when entering or exiting anesthesia. But this happens no more often than talking in a dream in ordinary life. And, as a rule, no terrible secrets become known to the world in this way. Most often, people throw remarks from everyday life: “Yes, I have already compiled a report” or “Murzik, don’t bother, I’ll feed you now.”
7. “And if I don’t wake up?” Real deaths from anesthesia – 1 in 200 elective operations. Approximately the same number of people die from the fact that a brick accidentally falls on their heads. The majority of complications and deaths occur for surgical reasons. And thanks to anesthesia, we get a chance for recovery.