Introduction

General anaesthesia is a state of controlled unconsciousness. During a general anaesthetic, medications are used to send you to sleep, so you're unaware of surgery and don't move or feel pain while it's carried out.

General anaesthesia is essential for some surgical procedures where it may be safer or more comfortable for you to be unconscious. It's usually used for long operations or those thatwould otherwisebe very painful.

It's not clear exactly how it works, butit's known that all anaesthetics interrupt the passage of signals along the nerves. This means that any stimulation to the body doesn't get processed or recognised by the brain.

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Medically Reviewed by a doctor on 30 Nov 2016