More than 21 million patients in North America alone receivegeneral anesthesia each year,1 and thanks to increasing knowledge,skill, and sophisticated technology, the vast majority of anestheticprocedures are uneventful. However, a rare but serious adverseevent is the explicit recall of sensory perceptions during generalanesthesia, termed "awareness" or "intraoperative awareness."The incidence of awareness may be as high as 1 or 2 for every1000 patients, possibly higher among children.2,3,4,5 Awarenessoccurs more frequently among patients who have received neuromuscular-blockingdrugs, who cannot signal to the medical team that they are conscious.3In most cases, awareness is . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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From the Departments of Anesthesia and Physiology, University of Toronto, and the Department of Anesthesia, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre — both in Toronto.
Related Letters:
Anesthesia Awareness and the Bispectral Index
Kelley S. D., Manberg P. J., Sigl J. C., Myles P. S., Leslie K., Forbes A., Bo L., Li J., Deng X., Aretha D., Kiekkas P., Eleftheria P., Cook T. M., Avidan M. S., Searleman A. C., Evers A. S., Orser B. A.
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N Engl J Med 2008;
359:427-431, Jul 24, 2008.
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This article has been cited by other articles:
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(2008). Memory and awareness during anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth
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Kelley, S. D., Manberg, P. J., Sigl, J. C., Myles, P. S., Leslie, K., Forbes, A., Bo, L., Li, J., Deng, X., Aretha, D., Kiekkas, P., Eleftheria, P., Cook, T. M., Avidan, M. S., Searleman, A. C., Evers, A. S., Orser, B. A.
(2008). Anesthesia Awareness and the Bispectral Index. NEJM
359: 427-431
[Full Text]
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