THE INCIDENCE AND ETIOLOGY OF POSTANESTHETIC EXCITEMENT A Clinical Survey

Summary The postanesthetic recovery room records of 14,436 patients given general anesthetics have been surveyed to obtain information on the incidence of and etiologic factors in the development of emergence excitement. The incidence of excitement was 5.3 per cent in the entire group. The highest incidences of excitement were correlated with the youth of the patient, the excellence of his health, barbiturate and scopolamine preanesthetic medication, cyclopropane or ether anesthesia, and operative procedures associated with pain or emotional stress. The addition of a narcotic to the preanesthetic medication reduced the occurrence of emergence excitement. The significance of the results of the survey and a suggested regimen of therapy are discussed.