Awareness under anesthesia during electroconvulsive therapy treatment

Awareness under general anesthesia is an infrequent phenomenon during which patients become cognizant of some or all events during surgery or any procedure conducted under anesthesia. Awareness experiences can frighten patients and impact their memories in ways that can leave emotional and psychological problems that, over time, may develop into posttraumatic stress disorder. Inadequate anesthesia has been implicated in the causation of awareness under anesthesia. We report first case of patient gaining awareness while under anesthesia undergoing electroconvulsive therapy treatment. The case reported here would suggest that clinicians administering electroconvulsive therapy should be alert to the possibility of awareness during anesthesia and take appropriate measures to maintain professional conduct and adjust anesthetic medication dose to avoid reoccurrence.