Nursing and other medical staff usually talk to sedated people and tell them what is happening as they may be able to hear even if they can't respond. Some people had only vague memories whilst under sedation. They'd heard voices but couldn't remember the conversations or the people involved.
They do hear you, so speak clearly and lovingly to your loved one. Patients from Critical Care Units frequently report clearly remembering hearing loved one's talking to them during their hospitalization in the Critical Care Unit while on "life support" or ventilators.
With minimal and moderate sedation, you feel comfortable, sleepy and relaxed. You may drift off to sleep at times, but will be easy to wake. With general anaesthesia, you are completely unaware and unconscious during the procedure. Deep sedation is between the two.
This will depend on how much sedation they have been given or any injury to their brain that they may have. If they can hear you, they are unable to speak if they have a breathing tube in their mouth. We know from asking awake patients that they remember things that were said to them when they were sedated.
Depending on the procedure, the level of sedation may range from minimal (you'll feel drowsy but able to talk) to deep (you probably won't remember the procedure). Moderate or deep sedation may slow your breathing, and in some cases, you may be given oxygen. Analgesia may also contribute to drowsiness.
Some patients need to be sedated for hours, days or even weeks. If they are doing well - waking up, are strong enough, and breathing by themselves - then the breathing tube can usually be taken out. Everyone is different so please ask the ICU nurse or doctor how long your loved one is likely to be sedated for.
Survival. There are reports that after initiation of palliative sedation, 38% of people died within 24 hours and 96% of people died within one week. Other studies report a survival time of < 3 weeks in 94% of people after starting palliative sedation.
These patients often have evolving processes that threaten the airway and adequate ventilation. Furthermore, intubation, ventilation, and sedative choices directly affect brain perfusion. Therefore, airway, ventilation, and sedation was chosen as an emergency neurological life support protocol.
In most cases, a delayed awakening from anesthesia can be attributed to the residual action of one or more anesthetic agents and adjuvants used in the peri-operative period. The list of potentially implicated drugs includes benzodiazepines (BDZs), propofol, opioids, NMBAs, and adjuvants.
Patients who receive conscious sedation are usually able to speak and respond to verbal cues throughout the procedure, communicating any discomfort they may experience to the provider. A brief period of amnesia may erase any memory of the procedures. Conscious sedation does not last long, but it may make you drowsy.
Anesthesia won't make you confess your deepest secrets
It's normal to feel relaxed while receiving anesthesia, but most people don't say anything unusual. Rest assured, even if you do say something you wouldn't normally say while you are under sedation, Dr. Meisinger says, “it's always kept within the operating room.
A drug-induced coma, better known as sedation in the medical field, is commonly used in medical, surgical and neurological intensive care units. It is also used when patients undergo major operations.
Although doctors often say that you'll be asleep during surgery, research has shown that going under anesthesia is nothing like sleep. “Even in the deepest stages of sleep, with prodding and poking we can wake you up,” says Brown.
Don't believe the myth that a patient sedated with midazolam or propofol can't feel pain. Studies show otherwise: About 50% of ICU patients who were intubated and sedated recall painful events.
Sedative medications are commonly prescribed within the ICU environment primarily for the treatment of agitation and anxiety, which themselves may be caused by many different conditions (eg, dyspnea, delirium, mechanical ventilation, lack of sleep, and untreated pain).
Ventilator Use During Surgery
Sometimes ventilator is used during surgery to make sure breathing is not disrupted during the procedure. In that case patient is usually on ventilator in sedation mode. Depending upon the total duration of surgery, patient may be on ventilator for one to many hours.
IV sedation works quickly, with most people falling asleep in roughly 15 to 30 minutes after it's been administered. Once the IV sedation is removed, you will begin to wake up in about 20 minutes and be fully recovered from all sedative effects within six hours.
The sedation medicine or anaesthetic can make some patients slightly confused and unsteady after their treatment. Importantly, it can affect their judgement so they may not be able to think clearly. This may last for up to 24 hours, so until the next day.
The process of waking up from anesthesia is known as emergence. During emergence, the anesthesiologist will slowly reduce the amount of anesthetic drugs in the body. This helps to reduce the intensity of the effects of anesthesia and allows the patient to regain consciousness.
There are different levels of sedation — some patients are drowsy, but they are awake and can talk; others fall asleep and don't remember the procedure.
Some patients die within minutes, while others breathe on their own for several minutes to several hours. Some patients will live for many days. This can cause distress for families if they expected death to come quickly. The priority of the health care providers is to keep your loved one comfortable and not suffering.
Palliative sedation is a measure of last resort used at the end of life to relieve severe and refractory symptoms. It is performed by the administration of sedative medications in monitored settings and is aimed at inducing a state of decreased awareness or absent awareness (unconsciousness).
Oversedation may result in the interference of adequate oxygenation and ventilation, resulting in a decrease of oxygen (hypoxia), or no oxygen (anoxia), and/or an excess amount of CO2 (hypercarbia) in the blood.
The duration of sedation cannot be determined in advance. In a systematic review including ten studies, the mean duration of palliative sedation ranged from 0.8 to 12.6 days [16]. In contrast, in a review including six studies on palliative sedation at home, the duration ranged from 1 to 3.5 days [34].
The recovery from sedation is similar to that of general anesthesia, but patients usually wake up quicker and their recovery time is shorter. As with general anesthesia, you won't be able to drive and should probably have someone stay with you for at least the first several hours after you return home.