Doctor Dinner, Anesthesiologist of New York Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell Medical Center, explains how he assists in the emotional and physical recovery of anesthesia patients, and specifically children who often awake scared.

Doctor Dinner: We very often like to have a combination of medications in so that they emerge in a comfortable plane. When a child is immediately woken up in the operating room they're usually in the presence of masked professionals; the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, a bunch of nurses, and it may be kind of startling initially to wake up and wonder, gee, what's going on here. So as a child wakes up we very often like to have a combination of medications in so that they emerge in a comfortable plane. We don't like them to wake up startled, fret, fight, push, shove and start having anxiety reactions. So once the child is strong enough to breathe on their own they will often be given some pain medicine to make sure that there's maximal comfort. And as soon as possible, once the earliest phase of recovery is met, they're brought into the recovery room where the parents are right there with them. With the combination of medications, reassurance and a staff of sympathetic healthcare professionals combine to make the experience usually a tolerated one.