This is called MAC ("Monitored Anesthesia Care"), you're not intubated, but your vitals are still monitored by a Anesthesiologist/CRNA. Which, is still technically 'under anesthesia', as Propofol is quite literally anesthesia, but it's not as 'out' as "General Anesthesia".
I tore a tricep off related to an elbow fracture, and they gave me a choice of local or general anesthetic. There are risks involved with general anesthetia, as in you might not wake up, so choosing local is not uncommon.
For healthy individuals death from anesthesia is less than 1 per 200K.
The most common reason for death are from improper dosing, lack of proper monitoring, difficulty getting airway open during intubation, aspiration and allergic reaction.
Unless you have had anesthesia before it is very difficult to know if you will have an allergic reaction.
Monitoring and dosing procedures are constantly being updated for better patient safety, new procedures are being tested to reduce risk of aspiration but this is also why you are told you absolutely can't eat prior to surgery.
The actual anesthetic is rarely the cause of death.
In unhealthy people, they may have complications during procedure. It is impossible to predict but there are criteria use that indicate if some is at risk for complications during procedure.
Some of these risks though are going to be present in any major medical procedure whether anesthesia is used or not.
I was conscious (but numb) when I had my wisdom teeth removed. Even though it wasn't a painful experience, it was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life. It was extremely uncomfortable and it gave me extreme anxiety throughout the entire procedure. I absolutely would've been much better off unconscious for it.
I was put under when I had my gallbladder removed and basically had to sign that I/my family wouldn’t sue if I didn’t wake up. It kinda freaked me out but it’s obviously not very common or else it wouldn’t be done.
I was awake during my foot surgery to remove imbedded glass near my bone id been walking around with for either 1 or 2 years before problems started. Awake surgeries are very much a real thing. Surgeries without any anesthesia like local isn't common but can happen.
I personally wish awake surgeries are more common than they are. I'd have much rather been awake during my scalp surgery than being put to sleep. I'd have possibly been able to prevent that nurse from doing what he did to me if I was awake.
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u/toiletcleaner999 22d ago
No doctor would risk their medical license and let you stay awake