When Anesthesia Fails in the Middle of Surgery, Patients Run the Risk of a Nightmarish Awakening
NEW YORK, NEW YORK (November 19, 2025) – According to the Joint Commission, roughly 40 million Americans undergo anesthesia for various medical treatments every year in the United States.
Most of these medical procedures occur without any type of complications. However, a small portion of patients that receive anesthesia spontaneously wake during the process.
This is known as intraoperative awareness. According to StatPearls, “Awareness under anesthesia is a preventable complication that can lead to significant psychological sequelae, including anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Intraoperative awareness occurs when the level of anesthesia that a patient receives is inadequate. It can be absolutely horrifying and traumatic for any person to undergo.
In severe cases, patients have recalled experiencing severe pain, paralysis, and the lingering feeling that they were about to die. It can also exacerbate medical conditions that patients already have, such as multiple sclerosis.
Liability for Intraoperative Awareness During Surgery
Intraoperative awareness is unfortunately much more common than many people realize. According to BMC Anesthesiology, “the rate of intraoperative awareness was estimated as four cases for every 1000 anesthesia procedures among anesthesiologists. However, most involved hospitals had no policies to regulate DoA monitor and prevent intraoperative awareness.” That means that there are roughly 160,000 cases of intraoperative awareness in the U.S. each year. Hospitals should take several measures to prevent intraoperative awareness.
- Assessment: Hospitals should conduct a thorough patient assessment and determine if a patient has any risk factors.
- Planning: hospitals should carefully plan all of the medications that a patient will receive throughout the surgery.
- Monitoring: hospitals should use EEG-based brain function monitoring to detect cases of intraoperative awareness.
- Coordination: physicians should coordinate closely with anesthesiologists before the start of any surgery.
Depending on the facts of any case, a hospital could face liability for any incident where a patient is injured as a result of intraoperative awareness. Hospitals can be liable for any instance where a patient is injured by medical malpractice. Not every instance where a patient is harmed in a medical setting is the result of malpractice. Rather, malpractice occurs when a hospital or physician deviates from an accepted standard of care. There are many ways that a hospital may have committed malpractice if a patient experienced intraoperative awareness.
- A hospital may have failed to administer adequate anesthesia for a patient.
- A hospital may have failed to monitor the brain functions of a patient during anesthesia.
- A hospital may have failed to perform an adequate preoperative evaluation.
It can be difficult to know where to begin after any instance of intraoperative awareness. These incidents can be incredibly traumatic. Many victims suffer anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. To make matters worse, hospitals will virtually never accept responsibility if one of their patients experiences intraoperative awareness. This is why it is so important for victims to seek the guidance of an experienced medical malpractice attorney.
Getting Legal Help After Waking Up During Surgery
We at GLK Law extend our best wishes to all of the people who have suffered greatly as a result of waking up in the middle of their medical procedures. These incidents are nearly always preventable and the results of some type of malpractice. Our law firm remains committed to holding physicians and hospitals accountable when patients suffer due to anesthesia errors.
Have you or someone you care about been the victim of intraoperative awareness? Our team of medical malpractice attorneys is here to assist you. We care deeply that accident victims are aware of their rights and that those rights are being protected. Whether you just have legal questions or are wondering how an attorney might be able to help with your particular situation, we are here to serve your needs. You are always welcome to reach out to our office anytime at (516) 908-9792.
