waking up in the middle of surgery, similar to anesthesia recall or anesthesia awareness, can be challenging and traumatic. this is why we take it very seriously, and we take measures to minimize the chance and risk of it happening under anesthesia and during your surgery. fortunately, trust in the surgery team, and compassion from doctors, can go a long way towards reducing the trauma that such an awareness episode can induce in patients. being honest about your medical history is very important to minimize the risk of it occurring in the first place.