What If You Wake Up During Surgery?

hey brainy art how terrifying would it be to wake up during surgery I mean you'd be lying there on a cold metal table with a slew of doctors hovering around you holding all manner of strange and intimidating tools and they'd be operating on you we bet that your face would look something like the guy in the board game operation surprise shock terror and maybe a hint of curiosity well lucky for you brainy art we have all the facts on this rare occurrence from how exactly doctors get you ready for surgery - what techniques they use to put you under - why some people wake up and others don't and also what doctors do to ensure that this doesn't happen we'll even talk about some real-life stories from people who have had this happen to them don't worry brainy art we have science on our side for this one just lie back close your eyes put on the mask the doctors hand you and count back slowly from 100 and get ready to wake back up we're gonna give it to you straight right off the bat waking up during a surgery does indeed happen as you can imagine it is a rare occurrence but it is not unheard of for a patient that was put under to wake up or to not experience the pain diminishing effects of anesthesia what exactly is anesthesia well we're glad you asked brainy art let's break it down for you anesthesia is when doctors will give you medication so that they can perform a surgery without you feeling pain or in some cases without you being conscious there are four types of anesthesia that can be administered and which one you'll get depends on the type of surgery and also what your doctor recommends for you based on your medical history these four types are general monitored local and regional general anesthesia is what we most commonly think of when someone is put under patients are given a combination of medications via a mask or an IV and are put into what is essentially a medically induced coma in this state your muscles will be paralyzed and this includes your diaphragm so a ventilator is used to help you breathe you vital signs will be monitored closely by a medical professional and when the surgery is over you will be administered different medications that will wake you back up general anesthesia is not used for every surgery in fact it is saved solely for the really serious stuff and this is because it is the strongest type of anesthetic out there it will only be used for surgeries that are either extremely long or extremely painful like knee replacement and heart or brain surgery monitored anesthesia is sort of like general anesthesia light because this method renders you in a sort of hazy almost awake but not quite but really you're almost asleep state you won't be paralyzed for this one and it will wear off in about 10 minutes after ceasing administration monitored is used for cataract surgery or a colonoscopy you know it's serious stuff but not as serious as someone working on oh I don't know your brain which brings us to the final two anesthetics which only work on parts of the body you'll be fully conscious and aware during these procedures but wait don't freak out you won't be able to feel the areas that the medication is targeted regional anesthesia is exactly what it sounds like only a region of your body is affected you receive the medication through an IV or our catheter and it will target your nerves this means that the numbness will occur below the injection site childbirth or surgery on your limbs are the perfect time for regional anesthesia to be used finally there's local anesthesia you'll be completely awake for this one a cream or a spray will be applied and it will cause the targeted area to go completely numb perfect for minor surgeries like filling a cavity as you can imagine depending on the type of anesthetic as well as the seriousness of the surgery there can be quite a few side effects they can be as little as soreness nausea or vomiting to more serious side effects like low blood pressure difficulty urinating nerve damage long-term memory loss or difficulty breathing but what about waking up during surgery what's the deal with this phenomenon why does it happen how often does it happen and can I get my money back from the hospital rainy art calm down we're going to the facts for this one here's what you need to know stats wise this is an extremely rare occurrence in the u.s. only about one or two and every thousand patients will experience what is known as anesthesia awareness which is when you will be in some state of consciousness when you aren't supposed to be or sometimes a full-on waking up during a surgery another study which surveyed 3 million patients who had undergone general anesthesia in the United Kingdom and Ireland found that only one in 19,600 would wake up during a surgery so yeah this is rare but brain ER we know you you're a man of science you want to know the whys behind this anesthesia awareness thing what is going on that would cause someone to wake up before they are supposed to well studies have shown that when one or more of the medications administered to put someone under has been used in an insufficient amount then someone can absolutely wake up either partially or all the way here's the thing some surgeries that require lower doses of anesthesia are the ones that seem to have this phenomenon happen more than others surgeries like a c-section or a prime candidate for the dosage to be too low because doctors want to make sure that they aren't harming the baby but during something like an emergency trauma surgery doctors are also wary to give too much medication to someone because they don't want to accidentally make the situation worse this is another time when people may not be given enough and aesthetics to lose consciousness here's the real kicker though surgeries where paralytics are used in other words surgeries where you're medically paralyzed can be a real problem for doctors because if a patient is conscious they'll have no way to say to the doctor something like oh I don't know hey I'm still awake over here this is why doctors will have brain monitors on you during surgery because if they see your brains activity above a certain threshold they'll know something is up it's not foolproof but it does work but alas sometimes these things just can't be avoided and even if all the proper precautions are taken for and during surgery people can still wake up and find themselves in a particularly uncomfortable position which is exactly what happened to Donna Penner Donna was experiencing extreme abdominal pain so she did what any reasonable person would do and went to her local hospital doctors decided Donna should have an immediate surgery and took her to the O R and she was informed that she would be put under during the procedure after a doctor administered a mask and told her to breathe deeply Donna was out for about ten minutes she woke up fully paralyzed but aware of her surroundings and able to feel everything that was going on and it was indeed still going on her surgery lasted 90 minutes which Donna described as absolutely horrific but Donna took this experience and turned it into something good she now gives lectures to medical students about anesthesia awareness so they know the seriousness of the situation and to also always be on the lookout for signs that their patient could still be conscious and as forgetting her money back well Donna sued the hospital and six years later she won her lawsuit and with good reason - she later said that the doctors were very dismissive of her experience to the point where she felt like she was nothing to them June Carson is another case of anesthesia awareness after experiencing cardiac arrest she lay on the operating table waiting to drift into an unconscious state but it never happened June lay on the operating table paralyzed from medication as her surgery took place and after 15 minutes her heart stopped the doctors administered an adrenaline shot which saved her life after this she woke up about two hours later and remembered the entire event it's scary stuff brain yard but all hope is not lost Donna's efforts have not been in vain and doctors are very aware that this can happen and now more than ever believed patients when they say awareness has occurred having an open dialogue about this subject is truly one of the best things you can do before going under for your surgery so don't be shy about having a conversation with your doctor ask them if they will always have someone monitoring you to make sure that everything is going smoothly during the operation if a patient says they have experienced some form of anesthesia awareness medical professionals will help the patient get the treatment they need to make sure they don't endure psychological trauma from the experience PTSD is not uncommon in these scenarios and one of the best lines of defense against it is talking to a professional as for what else can we do to keep this from happening well professionals think that using nerve stimulators could be the next step for the Prevention of anesthesia awareness they would ensure that only the minimum amount of paralytic is administered and thus patients would have the ability to move if they started to wake up education on the topic is also incredibly important so hey watching a video like this is the first step turns out patients who were told about awareness before they went into their surgery we're not as horrified if they experienced it here's the thing in some cases it may be unavoidable but knowledge is power and knowing what any potential outcomes of your surgery are be even something like waking up in the middle of it can prepare you for the worst well that's all the ifs ands and buts of anesthesia awareness it is an extremely rare occurrence but it does happen talking to your doctor before hand making sure that someone will monitor your vitals every moment that you are under and discussing with a medical professional what the best anesthetic is for you are always to make sure that this doesn't happen the next time you go in for a major surgery luckily even in cases like Donna Penner the surgery was still a success and she is alive and well to tell others her story and also to warn a new generation of doctors to keep an extra close eye on their patients so don't worry brain er the doctors got your back you'll be feeling your best brain self again in no time we'll see you on the other side [Music]

Channel: Brainiac

Views: 666,083

Rating: 4.8649149 out of 5

Keywords: Brainiac, surgery, anesthesia, anesthesia awareness, waking up during surgery, doctors, hospitals, brain, surgeon

Id: 8-_iU-Tcb0w

Length: 11min 6sec (666 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 26 2020