Cognitive Neurobiology of Consciousness and Memory during Anesthesia Awareness—Scientific Possibilities and Clinical Implications

Abstract

The condition of pharmacologically induced unconsciousness that renders a patient unresponsive to uncomfortable surgical stimuli is known as general anesthesia. When it is used for surgery, a fairly rare but traumatizing state known as anesthesia awareness might develop. What is the probability that a patient can be awake, conscious, and able to hear the surroundings and experience excruciating pain but be immobilized to communicate it during surgery? According to estimates, there are 1 to 2 cases for every 1000 patients who experience this phenomenon and retain various sensory information after general anesthesia was applied. Even with seemingly effective anesthetic care, emerging consciousness states during anesthesia are reported and often come with various degrees of memory loss mechanisms. Some researchers and the experiments covered in this paper suggest anesthesia is merely a memory loss or poorly understood neurological form of amnesia induced during the event itself and not a loss of consciousness per se during the traumatic event, as suggested by studies described in this article. In some instances, the agony may be unbearable, with long-term neuropsychiatric effects such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Although the neurobiological phenomenon of consciousness regained during anesthesia is still poorly understood, these continuously reported events carry significant medical and legal ramifications. The numerous contributing elements that may increase the risk of intraoperative raised levels of consciousness are gathered, analyzed, and discussed in this research study. Preventive methods for both preinduction and intraoperative usage, as well as corrective actions to take after such occurrences, are also discussed.