I read a news story online today about a woman who said she woke up during an operation, she said she couldn't move but could feel the surgeons working. A court awarded the woman 11,000 dollars for her pain and suffering. Now whether or not her story is true, I don’t know. I mean there is really no way to prove either way if she woke up. So, my question is, is this possible? Can you wake up in surgery, be totally aware but paralyzed? I know If this were to happen, it would be very rare, but is it possible?
2007-12-06 15:41:20 · 4 answers · asked by mike h 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
I just re-read the story, it happened in Austria; it's through MSNBC.
2007-12-07 02:06:01 · update #1
Hey, Mike - yes, it's possible, but very rare. If a person has paralytic drugs on board and the anesthetic gas is turned off or the vaporizer (what we use to deliver the gas) runs out, then you can be awake and paralyzed.
We typically use a lot of other drugs, so there are amnestics and pain medications on board along with the gas.
Most people would exhibit a rise in blood pressure and heart rate, and one of the first things we check is the amount of gas they are breathing out (end-tidal anesthetic concentration).
Awareness is most likely to occur under a few specific situations (not including incompetent anesthesia providers):
Cesarean sections - if they're done under general, then they are usually emergencies, and sometimes the knife hits the skin before the anesthetics have completely hit the brain. It's a saving the baby's and/or mom's life kind of thing, and is rare.
Cardiac surgery - open heart anesthesia is tricky, especially when bypass is involved. Again, it's rare.
Trauma - if we have to make the choice between comfort and safety, safety always wins. Severe traumas may be so life threatening that the body won't tolerate much in the way of anesthetic drugs.
Hope that helps!
2007-12-07 10:31:14 · answer #1 · answered by Pangolin 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I thought anesthesiologists could tell by blood pressure whether someone is feeling pain or not, but my anesthesiology experience (second hand since I was an oncologist / hematologist) dates back to the 90s. I would like to see Pangolin's answer too.
$11,000 seems very low for a pain and suffering award in this day and age. I hope there isn't an outbreak of people claiming this just to scam money.
2007-12-06 23:33:28 · answer #2 · answered by Spreedog 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is possible, although there is a very very slim chance of it ever happening. This is the result of an Anesthesiologist miscalculation. You body can't move due to the paralytic drugs but the mind is aware of everything that is going on.
2007-12-06 21:27:29 · answer #3 · answered by 1sleepymama 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hey mike H... what a coincidence... that's my name too..
Anyways, I recently spoke with an anesthesiologist and she said to consider it an impossibility. However, technically it is possible but very very very rare, its more like 1 in 100,000,000 chance.
2007-12-06 16:14:24 · answer #4 · answered by Ans 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋