“What happens when you can't wake up from anesthesia?”

You should trust your doctors and follow all instructions. This rare complication of delayed awakening occurs, but mostly it's due to the patient's conditions. If you are a healthy person, you must be confident. Everything will be okay.

Patients can sometimes experience delayed emergence, where it can take longer than expected to wake up from anesthesia. In some cases, some of the medications administered may need to be reversed. In other cases where reversing agents are not available, it just takes time for the medications to wear off. In some instances, a breathing tube may need to remain in place until the patient is awake enough to breathe on their own and protect their own airway. All of these are very rare occurrences.

Well!
You’ve asked a wonderful question: People do wake up from general anesthesia; it’s highly unusual not to! Your health plays a role; folks who are very ill may be difficult to awaken. Those with history of dementia and stroke take more time to awaken. Assuming you are healthy. Your operative procedure is less than two hours you will awaken with an hour of surgery and anesthesia. Let’s put your fear in perspective; it’s ok to be afraid, though you are extremely safe in the operating room with standardized monitors. Actually you are safer in the operating room than when you drove into the facility on the day of surgery. Talk to anesthesiologist. Share with him/her your concerns. Be honest about your health and the medications and recreational drugs you take. You will do fantastic.

Avoiding a snarky answer, you will wake up. Some people more slowly but usually in a few minutes. Anesthesia is statistically safer than crossing a sidewalk but we don’t give that a second thought because we are familiar with crossing sidewalks. The unknown can be very scary but you’ll do great!

From Christopher Creighton

99.9 % of people wake up from Anesthesia fine provided they are healthy.In rare cases if someone is not waking up we go through various testing for causes but every case is evaluated according to its circumstances so it is hard to say what happens randomly.

Waking up after general anesthesia may be delayed in patients who are obese, elderly, or have obstructive sleep apnea. This delay can be minutes to hours, but your anesthesiologist monitors you closely throughout this process until you awaken, stable and comfortable. All patients eventually wake up, recover, and do well.

Anesthesia now is very safe, you will wake up and love your anesthesiologist for good sleep