Incidents involving awareness under general anaesthesia (n = 21)
| Details | Intraoperative presentation |
|---|---|
| MUA, manipulation under anaesthesia; ECT, electroconvulsive therapy. | |
| Unremarkable anaesthesia with no obvious aetiology (n = 9) | |
| Cardiac surgery. Aware at sternotomy | Nil |
| Cardiac surgery. Aware at sternotomy | Tachycardia/hypertension |
| Caesarean section. Aware at incision | Tachycardia/hypertension |
| Burns debridement. Aware during maintenance | Nil |
| Laparotomy. Aware during maintenance | Diaphoresis |
| Minor gynaecology case. Aware when positioned | Nil |
| MUA. Aware during manipulation | Nil |
| ECT. Aware at electrode placement | Nil |
| ECT. Aware at electrode placement | Nil |
| Incidents related to volatile agents and vaporisers (n = 8) | |
| Laparotomy. Aware during maintenance Vaporiser deliberately turned off (hypotension) | Nil |
| Eye procedure. Awareness at and after intubation. Vaporiser deliberately turned off (hypotension) | Nil |
| Drainage of pilonidal abscess. Aware during maintenance. Vaporiser turned off; misjudgement of end of procedure | Nil |
| Wound debridement. Aware during maintenance. Vaporiser accidentally turned off during management of pneumothorax | Nil |
| Gynaecological procedure. Aware during maintenance. Caused by empty vaporiser | Tachycardia |
| Repair of umbilical hernia. Aware during maintenance. Malpositioned vaporiser | Hypertension, circuit leak |
| Axillary block dissection. Aware during maintenance. Malpositioned vaporiser | Hypertension |
| Laminectomy. Awareness during maintenance. Malpositioned vaporiser | Circuit leak |
| Miscellaneous incidents (n = 4) | |
| Suxamethonium sensitivity in patient intubated for cardioversion | – |
| Aware during difficult intubation | – |
| Aware during difficult intubation | – |
| Aware during intubation for respiratory arrest, due to extravasated intravenous access cannula | Patient movement |