Healthcare-associated PTSD is getting a lot of press lately. We used to think we could just tie them down, sedate them, and paralyze them and when they left our care, they'd go right back to their previous state of existence.
Oops - we were wrong. And, in retrospect, how could we not have known that these traumatic events - coding, being intubated, being chemically paralyzed, and being tied to the bed - wouldn't have lasting physical and psychological effects?
There's been a lot of literature published lately about this issue, which is necessary so we change practice and make things better. I'm all for that.
The one thing I really do not think we needed to doing a study on, though, is whether or not awareness during surgery causes post-traumatic stress disorder. To use an overused word: DUH!!
Being awake and aware while somebody is cutting through my skin to get to my internal organs? Yep, I'd be scarred (no pun intended) for a long, long time.
Don't think we needed a research project to figure that one out.
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