Anesthesia Awareness

Anesthesia Awareness occurs when a patient can recall their surroundings or an event while under general anesthesia.  This happens during a surgical procedure and sometimes a patient can recall pressure or pain that is related to their surgery.  While Anesthesia Awareness is rare, it has become more of a public conversation.  

This situation actually happened to Sherman Sizemore, a Baptist minister from West Virginia. Mr. Sizemore was able to feel all of the pain, discomfort, and pressure during the surgery.  The anesthesiologist present during his surgery did not give him the general anesthesia that would have rendered him unconscious until 16 minutes after the surgery began.  Family members said that the trauma of the experience led the minister to kill himself two weeks after the surgery. Mr. Sizemore was distraught by the traumatic experience of being awake during surgery but unable to move or cry out in pain.  In the two weeks after his surgery, Mr. Sizemore couldn’t sleep, refused to be alone, suffered nightmares and complained people were trying to bury him alive, based on a lawsuit filed by his family.

According to the American Institute of Nurse Anesthetists, despite the dramatic improvements in the quality of today’s anesthesia care, awareness during general anesthesia can still occur for a variety of reasons. Common causes of anesthesia awareness are inadequate anesthesia and equipment failure or misuse. Research into the causes and prevention of anesthesia awareness is ongoing. Anesthesia providers combine their clinical judgment with the use of different monitoring technologies to ensure that their patients are unconscious and pain-free during surgery. Brain monitoring devices can be used to measure the depth of consciousness, and are available in the majority of hospitals across the United States. Studies have shown that these monitors can help anesthesia providers further reduce the risk of awareness, although they alone are not a guarantee of preventing awareness.

The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists has reported that prolonged psychological or psychiatric care is often needed in cases of anesthesia awareness. If you feel uncomfortable, choose a well-regarded hospital and ask if the hospital will use brain monitoring equipment. Talk to the anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist about your fears.  Doctor errors, faulty equipment, or medical conditions so severe that the patient cannot be safely put under deep anesthesia are often reasons for Anesthesia Awareness.