ABSTRACT
Awareness is currently one of the most common pre-operative anxieties expressed by patients for whom awareness under general anaesthesia is a terrifying experience that can result in debilitating psychological sequelae and even post-traumatic stress disorder. For the anaesthetist, it can also lead to serious consequences with medico-legal claims for awareness constituting 2% of all claims made against American anaesthetists. The 5th National Audit project (NAP 5), published in 2012, is the largest study in the world that looked at the incidence and mechanism of accidental awareness under general anesthesia (AAGA). Figures quoted here are from the NAP 5 data.
