Anesthesia failure hurts
Published May 21, 2004
Weihrer is spreading the word that the problem is real.
Since her ordeal in 1998, which brought her an out-of-court settlement, she has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and sleeps in a chair because lying down triggers the feelings of fear and helplessness.
Weihrer, who lives in Reston, has since dedicated her life to warning of the dangers of anesthesia awareness and agitating for changes in how doctors monitor a patient's consciousness.
She has won significant attention in the medical community, but some anesthesiologists worry her campaign may be causing undue fear.
Roger Litwiller, a Roanoke anesthesiologist and president of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, said it's important to keep the issue in perspective - that awareness during surgery occurs only in about one or two of every 1,000 procedures.
One or two people per thousand for full awareness when supposedly anesthesized seems like a rather high number of patients to me. I have not seen estimates of the number of people who are semi-aware. I suspect the ASA is more concerned about its image than what may be a widespread and painful problem. The organization also dismisses the suggestion that a device that can identify wakefulness in a supposedly drugged patient be used.
As for prevention, Weihrer points to a simple, relatively inexpensive brain activity monitor.
The technology, approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is called a bispectral index (BIS) monitor. The theory is that if a patient is awake but paralyzed, it will show a high level of awareness to alert the anesthesiologist to adjust the medication and put the patient to sleep.
Litwiller contends the research is inconclusive on a BIS monitor's usefulness to an anesthesiologist.
I have been putting off an operation to remove a defective cornea for more than a year. Part of the reason for the delay is that I fear being paralyzed under anesthesia and in pain. One of the criteria for choosing a doctor for the surgery will be the availability of a BIS monitor.
I wish Weihrer the best in her crusade for anesthesia awareness.
Reasonably related
•More information about failure of anesthesia.
•The Anesthesia Awareness homepage.
Note: This entry also appeared at Mac-a-ro-nies.
- Anesthesia failure hurts
- Published: May 21, 2004
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- Section: Culture
- Writer: Mac Diva
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Three times now I've 'come out' of anaesthesia in the middle of a surgical procedure - and I can sure confirm that it hurts like hell. What astonished me most, was that in one of the cases, during a cardiac catheterization, the stupid buggers had no anaesthesiologist on call, so I was told to "bite on the towel" - as if this were the goddamned civil war or something! And this was at Washington Hospital Center, supposedly a high-tech, modern facility. I won't ever be going back to them for so much as a hangnail, nor will I ever advise anyone else to go there.
What irritates me most is that I have told the doctors, and told them, and told them, "such & such an anaesthesia won't work with me", and the stupid bastards insist on trying it anyway, as if I were lying or didn't know how my own body worked! The only reason the last one followed my advice was that I followed it with ominous comments about my lawyer if he didn't!
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In South Africa the question of intraoperative awareness is not well considered.. there are many examples of anaesthetic abuse.. I am trying to write about this to correct the situation to some degree.