A heart surgeon tells all... including the patient who woke up and tried to move with her chest open

It sounds like the stuff of nightmares. Or perhaps a far-fetched Halloween spook-fest blockbuster. 

Waking up half way through major surgery, inadequate amounts of anesthetic having been administered.

In a candid Ask Me Anything question-and-answer Reddit feed a heart surgeon openly discussed some of his most harrowing experiences, including one when a woman awoke on the operating table, her chest wide open.
Asked by user 'MechaLincoln' to describe the strangest thing to have happened during his medical career, 'eternal_wait' wrote: 'A patient waking up and trying to move with her chest opened, a really bad mistake from the anesthesiologist that day.

Casual attitude: The unnamed surgeon posted a photograph of himself giving the thumbs-up as he gets ready to assist in a bypass operation
Casual attitude: The unnamed surgeon posted a photograph of himself giving the thumbs-up as he gets ready to assist in a bypass operation

'Cardiac surgery patients are at the highest risk of waking up during surgery because of the use of the artificial heart-lung machine, their drug distribution volume get really big so they need much more drugs to remain sleep.
 
'I've had other interesting moments,' the doctor added, 'but its really impressive to see a person with no heart trying to move.'
Fortunately for the patient in question she had no memory of the botched surgery after it was through, but others have been less lucky, as Reddit users were quick to point out.
In response the surgeon went onto explain that a drug named Midazolam is given in cases such as the woman's, 'that causes amnesia so the patient doesn't remember this traumatic experience.'
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