Recovery from General Anesthesia

Abstract

The pattern of recovery from anesthesia is ordinarily quite predictable. Using a limited number of drugs to provide anesthesia further improves predictability; it is more difficult to assign a cause for delayed emergence when multiple agents have been administered. We believe the recovery period is often more difficult to manage safely than induction and maintenance of anesthesia. During this phase, the effects of surgical trauma are superimposed on the patient's preexisting disease state, the anesthetic level is changing rapidly, respiratory function has not returned to normal, and circulatory reflexes may not have been regained. Because the patient is being moved from the operating room and care of the patient is being transferred from one person or team to others, vigilance and treatment may also be impaired. It is a period of care that warrants further study.