For those who dream while under the knife, don’t pass out- it does not mean your anesthesia is wearing off.
Researchers from the Royal Melbourne Hospital of Australia did a study on patients who claimed they had a dream or more while undergoing surgery.Out of a total of 300 persons who were operated upon, 22 percent of them reported dreaming during an operation after being given general anesthesia.
An index used to measure the effect of anesthesia on the brain was used. It was seen that this index, called The Bispectral Index, was not differing significantly between the dreamers and non-dreamers. In other words, it showed that the effects of anesthesia or efficacy of the anesthetics used, on both groups was the same.
The authors led by Dr. Kate Leslie, who published this report in the journal Anesthesiology, say that this information may provide some relief to patients who wrongly associate their dreams during surgery with the effect of the anesthesia wearing off, and they being aware of the surgical procedure.
The common characteristics within the ‘dreamers’ group were: younger age, gender being male and pleasant dreams, usually reminiscent of those dreamt at home.
Source-Medindia
ANN
