Dreaming during Anesthesia and Anesthetic Depth in Elective Surgery Patients

Abstract

Background Dreaming reported after anesthesia remains a poorly understood phenomenon. Dreaming may be related to light anesthesia and represent near-miss awareness. However, few studies have assessed the relation between dreaming and depth of anesthesia, and their results were inconclusive. Therefore, the authors tested the hypothesis that dreaming during anesthesia is associated with light anesthesia, as evidenced by higher Bispectral Index values during maintenance of anesthesia. Methods With approval, 300 consenting healthy patients, aged 18-50 yr, presenting for elective surgery requiring relaxant gener..