In rare instances, a patient may wake up during surgery. The condition is highly preventable if staff properly monitor the patient, check equipment carefully, and make sure the dosage is correct. Failure to follow those guidelines may result in patient awareness.
Symptoms
- Memories of the procedure
- Hearing conversations during surgery
- Feeling pressure or movement
- Pain (in severe cases)
- Panic, PTSD, nightmares afterward
Because the patient can’t speak during the event, anesthesia awareness may go unnoticed until symptoms appear later.
What causes anesthesia awareness?
Mistakes made during the administration of anesthesia cause most cases of awareness. Those errors include underdosing anesthesia, which can happen during emergencies or when blood pressure is unstable. Equipment failures, such as a malfunctioning pump, can lead to too little anesthetic being delivered.
Patients with certain medical conditions, such as drug tolerance or heart issues, require special attention. Failure to adjust dosing correctly for those patients can lead to awareness.
Serious injuries caused by anesthesia awareness
While awareness doesn’t usually cause physical pain, the psychological harm can be severe and long-lasting. Patients may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which includes flashbacks, nightmares, and anxiety.
The trauma can also cause depression, fear of future surgeries, long-term sleep disorders, and more, which can impact the patient’s overall health for a lifetime.
In rare but extreme cases, patients report feeling pain during the procedure, which can make the trauma worse. Awareness combined with paralysis—when a patient cannot move or speak—can be one of the most psychologically harmful medical experiences a person can experience.
Victims struggle with emotional distress, difficulty working, and a significant loss of trust in medical systems. Weisser Law is here to help you understand how this happened by fighting for you to get the support you need and the compensation you deserve.
Contact Weisser Law today to schedule your free consultation.