Patients Occasionally Experience Sexual Hallucinations While Under Conscious Sedation

By Emma L. Barratt Since anaesthetics were first used in 1846 there have been reports of sexual hallucinations during medical procedures. And, though there’s been much discussion about the relationship between anaesthesia and these hallucinations, awareness of this side effect amongst both clinicians and academics remains somewhat low. The consequences of clinicians being accused of sexual misconduct that was in actuality a hallucination can extremely be serious; some have lost their licenses to practice, despite being acquitted. But even with the high-stakes consequences of sexual hallucinations, there has been relatively little published on the matter, making it difficult to understand the phenomenon as a whole. However, Alex Orchard and Ellie Heidari at Guy’s and St Thoman’s NHS Trust and King College London have synthesised the scattered existing literature on sexual hallucinations while under conscious sedation in their recent review. The resulting paper not only theorises as to risk factors which may prompt such hallucinations, but also suggests practical ways that may help clinicians avoid and manage their occurrence. The team’s search for peer-reviewed papers covered almost five decades of publications, from 1975 to 2020, which contained references to sexual hallucinations, conscious sedation, and dentistry or anaesthetics. In all, 28 papers were included in their review, 20 of which were from the UK, four from the US, two from China, and one fro...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Health Perception Sex Source Type: blogs