AAGA during induction of anaesthesia and transfer into theatre

44 NAP5 Report and findings of the 5th National Audit Project headline 7.1 AAGA encompasses a wide range of experiences (from the trivial to something akin to feelings of torture) and a wide range of psychological consequences (from none to life-changing). In NAP5 recall was, in about half the cases, expressed in a neutral way, focused on a few isolated aspects of the experience. In about half of cases there was distress at the time of the experience; distress was particularly likely with sensations of paralysis or pain, but could also occur when only isolated sounds or tactile sensations were experienced. Distress during AAGA was strongly associated with subsequent psychological sequelae. Understanding what was happening, or what had happened, seemed to mitigate immediate and longer-term psychological distress. Active early support may offer the best prospect of mitigating the impact of AAGA, and a structured pathway to achieve this is proposed. Jaideep J Pandit Michael Wang Jackie Andrade