Experts in Australia have suggested that anesthesia during surgery is not that effective since a large number of patients regain consciousness at some part during the surgery, leading to long-term post-traumatic stress disorder in some patients.


Researchers led by Professors Andrew Davidson and Kate Leslie, from Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital, found that at least one in 1,000 patients had some sort of awareness during surgery while they number doubled among children with one in 500 saying that they were awake during surgery.

Professor Davidson said that the awareness differed from being vaguely aware among some patients while others were fully aware of what exactly was happening during the surgery. He went on to add that at least a quarter of the patients from the latter category suffered from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder including nightmares and depression.

"It seems to be the people that are most traumatized are the ones that are paralyzed and in pain and wide awake and unable to move and terrified about doing anything", Professor Davidson added.