What is general anesthesia, & why it matters to patients & surgeons

Just had surgery. It lasted more than 2 hours but from my perspective it took less than 30 seconds. I'm really grateful that these guys have the skills and equipment to do the great job they do. And grateful for the generations of dedicated scientists who grew the knowledge to where it is today. I hate to think how people suffered hundreds and thousand of years ago, and still do in some countries.

I was under general during a surgery 20 years ago. I told the surgeon later that I could hear conversations going on between him and the other surgeon and the nurses. He said I was mistaken. I told him what the conversation was about…his jaw dropped and said that wasn’t supposed to happen. He called for the anesthesiologist and we had a rather humorous conversation about it. I had no ill feelings toward him.

I had 6 back surgeries in 1 year from an accident. The very last surgery I woke up basically about 1/3rd of the way through the surgery. They told me that they could not give me any more without the risk of basically killing me. They gave me the option to stop and finish later and I chose to finish. The attending nurse crouched down to see my face through the table and grabbed my hands and started talking to me through the rest of the surgery. She is an amazing person, and I will be forever grateful to her. That was the most pain I have ever felt and that is saying A LOT because I have been through some serious pain in my life! I have had 3 kidney stones at 1 time to say the least!

As a patient that has undergone multiple surgeries with general anesthesia and other types as well, I think anesthesiologists are the most important physicians in the operating room for the patient. When patients are under general anesthesia they are the patient’s advocate and they are the ones that have more knowledge about what is going on in the operating room (as far as monitoring) than anyone else. I have only met one anesthesiologist who was a complete ass, most are very willing to listen to you and what has worked for you in the past and very thorough in explaining what will be happening every step of the way. Surgery is scary for anyone, anesthesiologists (and nurses) make you feel safe, in my experience.

Max is a great guy; candid, informative and genuinely helpful in bridging that physician/ patient gap. Best wishes on a long and successful career.

I recently had a medical procedure involving Propofol. I remember them saying they were giving me the medicine to help me relax And I remember thinking "that stuff burns" when I felt it entering my bloodstream and that's the last thing I remember before waking up in the recovery room, which I'm grateful for.

I recently had a medical procedure that involved Propofol. That stuff was immediately "lights off" for me. No "I think I'm going under". It was one second being conscious and the next like not existing. I found it rather notable and for me, "alien". I keep remarking about how quickly it put me out.

I had my elbow rebuilt. My anesthesiologist was wonderful. During my waking up I had the best dream, the whole surgical team was at the beach with me on a warm sunny day with gentle waves 😅 I had a great experience because of this wonderful team and my orthopedic and anesthetic doctors. You all really brought the ‘A’ game, thank you

I remember the Anesthesiologist saying " We'll see you on the other side" just before going out during my last surgery. Made me feel like I was expected to return.

Thank you for choosing this specialty! It is so comforting to have a nice anesthesiologist discuss what to expect and gently let you drift off.

Ended up doing my final year elective in Anaesthesia and my research project topic was: Pain Expectations vs Reality and 100% of my subjects were in little to no pain post OP and 100% were in less pain than they expected. In other news, I finish med school in another 5 weeks! UPDATE: I AM A DOCTOR NOW!!! 🥲

What a pleasant and informative young man. He’s very easy to listen to . Thank You for sharing with the public an area that “ falls through the crack” when having surgery.

Nice video. I'm a semi-retired, Biomed Support Engineer and specialist in anesthesia and life support equipment. Nice to see the clear facts presented and explained to the public on this potentially scary subject.

I would absolutely trust this young man being under his care.

My anaesthesia during heart graft surgery was wonderful. Before going under I felt extremely euphoric and happy. When I came round several hours later I had no pain though was a bit hallucinatory which was interesting. The extraction of the breathing tube was no problem and for several days after had heightened sensations of taste, colour, smell and vision. Every meal, even a slice of toast was like a banquet. No qualms about having general anaesthetic again.

I had general anaesthesia earlier this week, and honestly It felt a lot longer than I thought it would. Still so incredibly thankful for the anaesthesiologist and the pain blocking, what a blessing

At the oral surgeon, I was told that the meds I was on could sometimes cause patients to become combative. He seemed unconcerned and said he'd use a very large dose of Valium before the anesthetic. I remember asking if they were about to put me to sleep and they said no, it's just the sedative, but I don't remember anything after 45 seconds, except for one thing. I recall becoming aware, but not really aware I was aware, that they were pulling on something and snipping it in my mouth, maybe like sutures. I recall the vibe feeling very professional and under tight control, and I experienced no pain and certainly no anxiety about it. I saw nothing. There was a calm, unexcited, deep voice using short sentences. I remember a total pause in conversation, as though they became aware that I had become aware, and very shortly after that I was unaware again. I was very drunk leaving, accidentally causing a picture frame to fall and smash on the wall in the hall on the way out. I tried to be very apologetic and pick up my mess but suddenly about four people surrounded me and were very gentle but firmly insisted I do nothing to try to help and that I had done nothing wrong. An experience I remember to this day!

Thank you Max for this information . I have undergone several general applications, and a few of the other less invasive. I woke up in the middle of surgery and could feel everything going on and was screaming through my throat so the nurse told the doctor , “ I think she is awake”. Now I do not know if she heard me or not, but i immediately went back under. It was a very scary thing to go through. I just want to thank you for taking time to explain the various methods.

i woke up during gen/ anaes and heard and saw the doctors ..the pain was horrific ..i fainted

I've been watching a ton of your videos recently because I've had a recent awakening: I love anesthesia and the feeling of actually doing something. I'm currently in Nursing school and now have a huge want to pursue CRNA school in my future, so these videos are super awesome for me and for my learning of anesthesia principles! Thank you for the content, you're helping a lot more people than you realize!! :)