The trailer for the movie Aware claims an incidence of 1 in 700; this is much too high for a general population of patients. A number of studies have produced values ranging from 1/1000 to as high as 1/115 in a population at very high risk for awareness (1-5). A very recent study on a large private practice population suggests that the incidence may be as low as 1 in 14,000 (6) but the results of that study have been challenged for a number of methodological reasons (7,8).
References:
1. Myles PS et al: Patient satisfaction after anaesthesia and surgery: results of a prospective survey of 10811 patients. BJA 2000;84:6-10
2. Sebel PS et al: The incidence of awareness during anesthesia: A multicenter United States study. Anesth Analg 2004;99:833-9
3. Wennervirta J et al: Awareness and recall in outpatient anesthesia. Anesth Analg 2002;95:72-7
4. Sandin RH et al: Awareness during anaesthesia: a prospective study. Lancet 2000;355:707-711
5. Sandin R, Nordstrom O: Awareness during total I.V. anaesthesia. BJA 1993;71:782-787
6. Pollard RJ et al: Intraoperative awareness in a regional medical system. Anesthesiology 2007;106:269-74
7. Leslie K: Awareness in a community-based anesthesia practice (letter). Anesthesiology 2007;107:671-672
8. Sebel PS et al: Don't ask, don't tell (letter). Anesthesiology 2007;107:672
David S. Smith, M.D., Ph.D.
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