Consciousness, Awareness, and Anesthesia

Description

Consciousness, Awareness, and Anesthesia explores the scientific conundrum of consciousness and the clinical complications of awareness during general anesthesia.

Hypnosis, amnesia, and immobility are three major therapeutic endpoints of general anesthesia. In one to two cases out of a thousand, hypnosis and amnesia are not achieved – often leaving a patient immobile but capable of experiencing and remembering intraoperative events. Awareness during general anesthesia is one of the most dreaded complications of surgery and is feared by patients and clinicians alike. Despite many advances in the field, there are also a number of unresolved questions that persist. Some of the difficulties in the detection and prevention of awareness during anesthesia relate to the underlying complexities of the neuroscientific basis of consciousness. Consciousness, Awareness, and Anesthesia is a multidisciplinary approach to both the scientific problem of consciousness and the clinical problem of awareness during general anesthesia. An international cadre of authors with expertise in anesthesiology, neurobiology, and philosophy provides a cutting-edge perspective. No other book on the subject has drawn from such a breadth of scholarship.

Key Features

• Internationally renowned experts on the subject
• Multidisciplinary approach
• Diverse opinions on current controversies

Table of Contents

1. Consciousness and anesthesiology: an introduction – George A. Mashour
2. Relevance of sleep neurobiology for cognitive neuroscience and anesthesiology – Ralph Lydic, Giancarlo Vanini, and Helen Baghdoyan
3. The neurobiology of consciousness – Christof Koch and Florian Mormann
4. Memory formation during general anesthesia – Michael Alkire and Chantal Kerssens
5. Dreaming during anesthesia – Kate Leslie
6. Etiology and risk factors of intraoperative awareness – Mohammed Ghoneim
7. Monitoring anesthetic depth – Gerhard Schneider
8. Current controversies in intraoperative awareness: I – Peter Sebel and Paul S. Garcia
9. Current controversies in intraoperative awareness: II – Michael Avidan
10. Awareness during general anesthesia in the pediatric population – Andrew Davidson and Rachel Hutchens
11. Psychological consequences of intraoperative awareness – Claes Lennmarken and Gunilla Sydsjo
12. Medicolegal consequences of intraoperative awareness – Karen Domino and Chris Kent
13. Complaints of awareness after sedation and regional anesthesia: the role of patient expectations – George Mashour and Roy Esaki
14. Philosophical implications of awareness during general anesthesia – Eric Larock.

Reviews

“… the book is understandable and enjoyable to read, with concise chapters and clear subchapters. The layout is clear and elegant … comprehensive and comprehensible … It provides a fascinating insight into this relatively poorly understood aspect of our day-to-day practice, and we recommend it to all practising anaesthetists.” – British Journal of Anaesthesia

“The chapters of the book are arranged to present a great deal of information in a compact and engaging style, with cited references clearly presented. A brief summary is provided at the end of each chapter to highlight and help readers review the major content. The book should be appealing to neuroscientists, anesthesiologists, psychologists, and philosophers, providing an excellent read for anyone who is interested in the mechanism, prevention, and effects of intra-operative awareness.” – The American Society of Anesthesiologists

Editor Biography

Dr Mashour received his M.D. and Ph.D. in neuroscience from Georgetown University and was awarded Fulbright scholarships for neuroscience research in Berlin and Bonn. He completed his residency and chief residency in anesthesiology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, as well as fellowship training in neuroanesthesiology at the University of Michigan. He is currently the Director of Neuroanesthesiology, as well as Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Neurosurgery at the University of Michigan Medical School. His main clinical interests are neuroanesthesiology and neurocritical care. Dr Mashour’s major scholarly focus is consciousness and anesthesia. He is credited with developing the cognitive unbinding paradigm of general anesthesia, as well as advocating for the role of anesthesiology in the study of consciousness. In his clinical research, Dr Mashour is the principal investigator of a 30,000-patient study focused on the prevention of awareness during general anesthesia. He has published and lectured extensively on the subjects of consciousness, awareness, and anesthetic mechanisms. Dr Mashour is the recipient of numerous awards for his work as a clinician, scholar, and educator.