Do a vibe check with the anaesthesiologist. Good ones that are aware of this and care about person-to-person variation in response to anesthesia will be chill and explain how they will closely monitor the situation via your vitals and behavior. Good ones will ask about your consumption of alcohol and think very carefully about whether you are lying. Not saying you would lie but if there is any chance don’t. Be very forthcoming and accurate about alcohol consumption because it makes you more resistant to most kinds of general anaesthetic and is linked to those negative experiences you mention. They might ask you about whether you have redheads in your family, which is also a good sign.

Basically… you want someone that is on top of their game when it comes to individualized dosing and who seems likely to be paying attention during your procedure. Red flags are anaesthesiologisrs who seem defensive or who give false information (e.g. if they say alcohol consumption doesn’t matter). You can also check reviews. Another thing to consider is that every single example I have of an anaesthesiologist that didn’t pay attention during a procedure and let someone wake up or nearly wake up has been an old white guy. Anecdotal but food for thought…

So, based on your sources, the first one states “'connected consciousness’ occurs when people under general anaesthetic are able to respond to outside stimuli such as pain but may not be able to recall the event afterwards.” This occurred with 1 out of 10 patients in their study. But responding to the environment is much different than consciousness under anesthesia.

The second source was pay walled, but in the third from the BBC, it states “the unfortunate result is that a small proportion of people may lie awake for part or all of their surgery without any ability to signal their distress.” It’s important to remember it’s only a “small proportion” of folks!

I’ve unfortunately had more than 10 surgical procedures and I’m also a major odd ball when it comes to treatments for my autoimmune disorders. But I’ve never once had any issues with anethesia, aside from specific drugs making me irritable when coming too. You’ll almost certainly be fine. I found this research paper that’s super specific to your question: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2743249/

It covers how somewhere between 0.05% and 0.1% of patients undergoing anesthesia are aware of the operation during the procedure. While this is a truly minor proportion, it isn’t 0%, and this is one reason why surgery is a last resort. Regardless, the numbers are on your side and do your best not to manifest this into taking place during your operation!

I have participated in this kinda operations at a low level. Once a week or so. I have never had a patient remember anything after anesthesia. There were a coupple that seemed to respond to pain. Their sedation was increased then it went a way. They awoke reporting no unusual distress. This is scary, every operation is. However this is far less common than any other the more likely complications. Those are particularly unlikely as well. None of these are not really worth worrying over. Thr car ride to the doctor is far more dangerous.

Comrade, others have had good responses already so I won’t try to give you facts/arguments, I don’t know that much about the subject anyway. But I’ll tell you about my experiences because they were all good, and hopefully positive thoughts will put your mind at ease.

I was in a very bad accident once where I was knocked unconscious in a brutal manner (think traumatic brain injury). And let me tell you, it is one of nature’s great mercies that we are programmed such that I can’t remember that accident at all. Not one bit. Not like going to sleep, just complete, utter blackness with nothing in the void. Perfect unconsciousness. I’ve also been anesthetized a few times and that’s how I’d describe every one of those experiences: perfect unconsciousness with absolutely nothing registering at all. It isn’t like sleep, it is something blessedly less active. I know it sounds weird to say but I’m very pro-anesthesia. We can’t deny that things can go wrong, but this is one of those things like plane crashes - we fixate on what goes wrong (I say this as a nervous flier). Many more things go right. Hang in there!

I had something like this happen in one of the surgeries that I’ve had. I had consciousness and sensation but couldn’t move or open my eyes. Luckily it was before they had made an incision, and I began to feel very panicked. I could hear the operating team talking and feel them preparing the area by wiping down my skin. It was a very ‘locked inside’ feeling.

Then I heard one of them (the anesthesiologist I believe) mention that my heart rate was going up. They mentioned something about administering more of something, and I went out completely. So it was handled well by that medical team, and I just had a close call. Just know that you can use your emotional response to signal the need for more anesthetic.