(March 16, 2016 at 1:27 am)IATIA Wrote:bold mine(March 15, 2016 at 1:07 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: Wrong. A conscious person is aware of things, an unconscious person isn't.
Do you know that for a fact? The way general anesthesia works is that it immobilizes the body but they are aware and just do not remember.
General anesthesia (GA) is the state produced when a patient receives medications for amnesia, analgesia, muscle paralysis, and sedation. An anesthetized patient can be thought of as being in a controlled, reversible state of unconsciousness. Anesthesia enables a patient to tolerate surgical procedures that would otherwise inflict unbearable pain, potentiate extreme physiologic exacerbations, and result in unpleasant memories.
The combination of anesthetic agents used for general anesthesia often leaves a patient with the following clinical constellation:
[url=http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1271543-overview][/url]
- Unarousable even secondary to painful stimuli
- Unable to remember what happened (amnesia)
- Unable to maintain adequate airway protection and/or spontaneous ventilation as a result of muscle paralysis
- Cardiovascular changes secondary to stimulant/depressant effects of anesthetic agents
Where in this article does is say that they are aware? They mention "reducing awareness".
During some procedures the physician wants the patient to have the ability to respond (speak, move, blink, ....). The anesthesia used is specific (in type and dose) to that purpose. If the anesthesiologist is not a dick they will most often include an amnestic medication (during or immediately after).
For most other procedures the general anesthesia used "reduces" awareness to near nothing. If you are not aware of painful stimulus (as stated in your post) you will not be aware of almost any stimulus (tactile, auditory, visual, temp. .....). Your respiratory center is not "aware" that you are suffocating, therefore ventilation support. Respiration is one of the brain functions that continues when other awareness functions have ceased.
Don't get me wrong, there are cases of procedures being performed where the patient has been aware. Most often these are cases of inadequate anesthesia delivery or monitoring. In some cases there is no explanation. The trauma often damages the patients for life.
I don't have an anger problem, I have an idiot problem.