Anyone work in theatre? MIL has a question about being awake during an operation.

[RatOnnaStick]

MIL is recovering from a serious operation which involved an epidural and sedation but not anaesthetic. She distinctly remembers waking before the op was over, could feel nothing but was aware of a big blue sheet, bright light overhead and someone talking. She isn't traumatised by it but we did wonder how common this is.

Does anyone have experience of this?

This is quite normal. The epidural is for pain relief - so if she didn't feel anything that worked fine. The sedation is to induce drowsiness. You dont actually need it to do the op, but many people find it distressing to have to lie there still for so long so it is common to sedate to relax the patient. People react differently to sedation - some remain awake throughout, just chilled. Some people are awake but dont remember anything after, some go to sleep completely. In this case it seems the sedation wore off a little before the end, but its nothing to worry about, so long as she isn't distressed by it.

Hope thats helpful.

Sounds like she just dozed off for a bit. Epidural would prevent her Feeling anything but not make her unconscious. Clearly wasn't explained very well to her.

Thank you, I thought it might be something like that. Nothing of that kind was mentioned that she remembers. She's not the kind of person to ask many questions, tends to go with whatever the medical people say. She's only just talking about it now, 2ish weeks post-op now she's starting to move around at home a bit.