“Do you talk while under anesthesia?”

If you are under general anesthesia or deep sedation, you don’t talk. You can talk under conscious sedation or MAC anesthesia.

Yes, and you will say all your secrets, your wife will kill you.

Not if you get general anesthesia. If you are sedated, but awake, you may talk and not recall that you did.

This depends on the type of anesthesia. Patients under general anesthesia do not talk and are unconscious for the entire procedure. This type of anesthesia is common for procedures such as gall bladder removal, appendix removal, brain surgeries, hysterectomies. Other types of anesthesia involve minimal to heavy sedation. Pt who are sedated for procedures that do not require being totally asleep may talk but often do not recall what they may say or ask nor do they recall the procedure. As a board certified Anesthesiologist, it is our responsibility to ensure your comfort and safety throughout many types of procedures.

It is possible for patients to speak under anesthesia. However, it depends what type of anesthesia is being given to the patient. Patients who are under general anesthesia with a breathing tube in place, generally cannot speak. Patients that are having intravenous sedation known as MAC (monitored anesthesia care) can speak if their anesthesia is light. Usually this occurs at the beginning of anesthesia when they are going under or at the end when the anesthesia is wearing off. Still, it can happen any time the anesthesia is light. You can think of it as being similar to someone who talks in their sleep. They may speak but may not remember that it happened.

You can talk when you are in light planes of anesthesia or when you are getting out of it. There is a kind of dissociative drug that patients can move and talk under anesthesia. Called Ketamine.