What is the risk of waking up during surgery?

If you are undergoing general anesthesia with an anesthesiologist, the chance of waking up during the surgery is quite remote.  You should discuss your concerns with your surgeon and the anesthesiologist ahead of time.

My
approach to avoiding anesthesia awareness is to avoid general anesthesia. Our
patients undergo Twilight sedation so that they are breathing on their own and
in a dream state. We use versed which causes amnesia. All of this avoids the
worry of a patient waking up from general anesthesia with a tube down their
throat and panicking.

I would definitely relay your concerns to your plastic surgeon and your anesthesiologist.  Although this has been reported, it is very uncommon for this to be the case.

Anesthesia Awareness is very rare, some think it does not exist at all. In over twenty years of doing breast augmentation surgery I have not seen a case. I did have one patient who gave a pretty good history of anesthesia awareness with previous surgery. For the surgery I did with her, the anesthesiologist noticed that she did require more medicine than what would be expected for her size. So she was given a little extra medicine during her breast augmentation procedure. For that surgery she had no recall. I think as long as you have a good anesthesiologist, it should not be an issue. The medicine we use for breast augmentation is not the type that can leave you awake and unable to move. If you are getting light, it should be noticeable before you are awake enough to be aware. Let you surgeon and anesthesiologist that this is a concern for you, and it will make them more vigilant and you more comfortable. 

This should never happen. We have never had a single incidence in 17 years using Board certified anesthesiologist under full General anesthesia 

can be managed effectively if you let your anesthetist/anesthesiologist know beforehand so they have a heightened awareness to keep you 'deep' and there are also some methods that can be utilized to provide some objective evidence that you are 'deep enough'.  What you fear is a very very rare issue and by mentioning it to your providers, they should have the extra attention needed to prevent you from experiencing that.  And you will wake up...

This is more common in cases where the patient has more medical issues and can't tolerate the anesthetic as well. It is really pretty uncommon. Sometimes what you think of as anesthesia awareness is actually just that you remember waking up in the OR, which is actually a good thing. Anesthesia should last just for the actual surgery and not for the time the staff is cleaning up after surgery. Talk to your surgeon. If you are getting a board certified anesthesiologist you are getting the best.

Although your concerns are understandable, the likelihood that you will have any “anesthesia awareness” is extremely small, assuming you are selecting your plastic surgeon and anesthesiologist carefully.  Concentrate on choosing your plastic surgeon carefully; you will find that everything else, including anesthesia provider, will “follow” this selection, and that you should have a pleasant anesthesia experience. Best wishes.

Waking up during surgery is something that has been sensationalized by the media and movies.  If you are having surgery in an accredited surgery center or hospital, anesthesia will be administered by an anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist who will monitor your heart rate and blood pressure to assure that you remain asleep during surgery.  The stories of people waking up during surgery are usually patients that are having surgery in non-accredited centers.Let me take this opportunity to remind you that safe plastic surgery is ONLY performed by a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon.Good luck with surgery.

In 30+ years we have not seen a case. My advice for you would be to convince yourself that everything is going to go smoothly and have a positive attitude rather than being anxious. The likelihood is you'll find that the surgery felt like it was essentially over in what seemed like moments for you and you'll be happy with the result.