Zeitschrift für Trauma und Behandlung

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Consciousness during Anaesthesia

Abstract

Zyan Khan*

General anaesthesia has long been known to carry the risk of complications, including awareness during or consciousness during anaesthesia. According to estimates, 30,000 patients in the US experience awareness during anaesthesia each year. The invention of ether by Morton in 1846 signalled the beginning of a new age in surgery when patients might be spared the anxiety of having surgery while awake. The first instance of awareness during general anaesthesia was documented by Morton the same year when his etherized patient felt intraoperative pain. Prior to the use of curare, awareness could be easily determined since the patient would react physically to unpleasant surgical stimuli.