I always thought that if it was general, you're knocked out, but if it's local, they numb a specific party of the body.

The "twilight sleep" thing is what confuses me.

But if they use a benzodiazapine, or something like it, where you aren't out, they don't take over your main bodily functions, is that considered general anesthesia? Or just really good sedation?

I'm pretty sure it's not considered anaesthesia if you're technically awake. With Dylan I had a local anaesthetic (via the epidural line) and then ketamine on top of it. So I was numbed at the surgical site AND really fucking high.

Jessica, me too. I ask because my friend's niece (age 5) need a piece of rust removed from her cornea. My friend said, "They are going to use general anesthesia" and I thought, "probably not." Because in my world general anesthesia usually involves an IV and/or a breathing tube.

When they pulled Noah's tooth they gave him Versed which made him loopy, then something else for the pain.

I guess that's the twilight sleep thing?

Oh! How stuff works has the answer: [link]

The "twilight sleep" thing is what confuses me.

I kind of had the twilight sleep when I dislocated my shoulder two years ago. They gave me propofol and I was totally awake and talking, but remembered nothing after. It's classed as a general anesthetic.

It was awesome. I was, according to the tales, ridiculously high and did a nice 15 minute stand up routine about teaching, Twilight, and Harry Potter fanfic.

Twilight sleep is conscious sedation. Run of the mill sedation has you unconscious. You didn't experience shit, as opposed to forgot it. At least so far, with me. Nerve procedures--versed+some other stuff, mostly time goes quickly and I don't care. Appendix--no time passed between me counting back from 100, and me asking the nurses what time it was. Again and again and again. They were not nice about it.

Twilight sleep is conscious sedation

When I had my trigger thumb surgery, they did this for me. A nurse sat on the opposite of hand being operated on and talked to me. I didn't feel anything but I remember chatting with her. At one point they asked me if I wanted to look and I remember being able to see my tendons and move my thumb and see things move and oooooh, so cool, but wait, that is INSIDE ME !

Spending a day every two months in PACU means I get to experience lots of people coming out of anesthesia. The asking again and again and again is totally par for the course.

Twilight sleep uses the same drugs as general anesthesia but in smaller doses.

I also think it's NUTS that I was intubated for a kidney stone procedure where they just kept pinging me to break up the stones but that I was conscious=ish for major abdominal surgery.

Also, an amazing video from the inside of a cockpit of one of the firefighting planes at the Rim Fire: [link]