When you get sedated.....?

Question

are you like in an unconscious state??? because when I got sedated for surgery all I remember is getting the stuiff put in my IV and next thing I know it's over....but my surgeon and everyone said I was very talkative when they sedated me and everything ...how could I have been talking when I had no awareness of anything??? and when you actually get put to sleep are you like unconscious cuz you don't dream or anything.....and how do they get that breathing tube in your mouth when you're sleeping????

they put me to sleep afterwards

Answer 1

it's like a medical coma. it's such a heavy sedation that you will not remeber anything -- which is the point. you are not supposed to wake up DURING surgery or remember anything about it... ;-)

Answer 2

Sedation and general anesthesia are different things.  

You likely got some midazolam (Versed), so you don't remember the procedure.  Most people don't talk much when sedated, but some (like you) do.  Other sedatives affect you memory to different degrees.

General anesthesia is nothing like regular sleep - it is a drug-induced state of unconsciousness.  (If someone stuck a scalpel in you while you were sleeping at night, you'd have something to say about it, and quick!)

Putting in the breathing tube is called intubation, and we use a device called a larygoscope to see the vocal cords, and we slide the tube between the cords and into the trachea.

Here is a photo of someone intubating a patient:

http://members.tripod.com/BDobslaw/Intub...

(laryngoscope is in his left hand, tube in his right)

This is the view we're looking for, the vocal cords are the white ^ in the center of the photo:

http://www.nature.com/ncpgasthep/journal...

This is what a laryngoscope looks like:

http://www.respiratoryonline.com/contact...

Not everyone gets intubated for surgery.  We have other ways of controlling the airway and making sure you breathe OK.

Answer 3

Usually when they sedate you they give you a combination of a few medicines.  One of those usually makes you forget what happens.  So you can be awake during the surgery and not remember a thing afterward.

During some surgeries the anesthesiologist will put you completely under and you probably wouldn't dream  because you are less conscious than when you are just asleep.

They use special instruments to get the breathing tube in.  

Answer 4

I suspect part of the sedation you had was a benzodiazepine like midazolam. It's popular, and has significant amnestic properties. You probably had some awareness at the time but just don't remember.