In order to identify the factors to which patients attach importance when undergoing general anaesthesia, 678 patients were retrospectively asked about their recollections of previous anaesthetics during routine preoperative screening over a period of 14 months. The most frequently mentioned recollections concerned the post-anaesthetic period, followed by recollections of the induction of anaesthesia. From the post-anaesthetic period, nausea/vomiting and drowsiness were most often cited. The number of anaesthetics previously undergone had no influence on the reports of the two most frequently mentioned complaints. The rate of nausea/vomiting in this series was 21.0%. The number of patients reporting nausea/vomiting following an anaesthetic has not changed over the years. The last 250 patients were asked to assess the quality of their anaesthetics on a 5-point scale. More than a quarter of the patients were not satisfied with the anaesthesia. No correlation was found between the assessment of the anaesthesia and complaints about nausea/vomiting and drowsiness. The possible role of psychological factors in the origin of complaints about anaesthesia is discussed.
Adolescent Adult