Waking Up to Anesthesia

Awareness occurs in about one in every 1,000 patients having general anaesthesia. But some patients are at higher risk and some are at lower risk. Healthy, non-pregnant patients having routine elective surgery are at much lower risk (say, one in 10,000 patients). Sicker patients having bigger operations – especially emergency operations and open heart surgery – are at higher risk (up to one in 100).