Did Congresswoman Giffords have surgery/anesthesia without a brain monitor?

Congresswoman Giffords took several hours to awaken after her surgery and anesthesia, according to her surgeon Dr. Gerald Lemole, the chief of neurosurgery at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tucson.

Curious minds want to know if she had a brain monitor (& if not, why not?) to directly measure the anesthetic effect on her already injured brain. Presumably, had a brain monitor been used, Giffords’ wake up would have been merely minutes instead of hours.

Although Dr. Lemole said Giffords was functioning at the same level as preoperatively, the lack of being able to verbally communicate with her precludes a full assessment of her neurologic function.

It is known that some previously normal people develop an Alzheimer’s like dementia after anesthesia that I am confident is a function of the nefarious practice of anesthesia over medication that must happen to avoid anesthesia under medication and awareness.

The routine practice of anesthesia over medication is readily avoided by the use of a brain monitor. Brain monitors are available in 75% of US hospitals yet they are only being used 25% of the time. Allowing anesthesiologists (and nurse anesthetists) to play Russian roulette with their patients’ brains is an outrageous and unacceptable situation in the 21st century.

With Goldilocks anesthesia, patients receive neither too much nor too little but just the right amount. Go to www.drbarryfriedberg.com to download 3 free letters to help you avoid anesthesia over medication and the risks of delirium, dementia and death.