anaesthetic
i've had several operations in my time and the anaesthetic has always been the same.
except for last year, when i had a hernia op. the anaesthetist said "i don't want you to panic, i'm going to press down on your throat. don't worry if you get a strong taste of onions, that's normal."
he squeezed so hard i could barely breathe and i was left with bruises. not his fault, i bruise easily. but can somebody please tell me why he had to squish my throat and why in the name of satan's unholy portion did the anaesthetic taste like really strong onions?
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 20:25, 11 replies)

Was he a lunatic who
wandered in from the street?

Did he have his trousers on? Or was he but naked from the waist down with a massive erection?
( SpankyHanky, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 20:27, closed)

well, my hernia is gone
and i woke up unmolested, so i'd have to say no
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 20:30, closed)

The onion taste
Would likely have been from Sodium_thiopental which is a drug which used to be used in the induction phase of anaesthesia, this has largely been replaced with Propofol which does not produce this effect.
(lochii, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 22:40, closed)

It's called cricoid pressure - the logic is to compress the oesophagus (gullet) with your trachea (windpipe) and stop stuff from your stomach coming up and down into the lungs. Also helps bring things into position so the anaesthetist can stick a tube down your throat. Sodium thiopentone classically makes people taste rotting onions. It's used to induce unconsciousness (and in lethal injections too...)
(suxamethonium, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 22:47, closed)

ah!
many thanks to you and lochii.
a bit worrying that it's used in lethal injections, though
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 22:54, closed)

Im glad
those 2 things were explained, i had wondered at how random it seemed
(insomniac-surfer oh go on then, just this once, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 23:24, closed)

it just seemed completely bizarre to me
i've had 20-odd operations, this was the only one to include onions
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 23:39, closed)

Surprised no one has said it...
French anaesthetic?
Did the fella have a beret, stripy jumper and a string of onions?
( Greenbat, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 23:22, closed)

no
i'm pretty sure i'd have noticed that! :D
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 23:40, closed)

were you close
to the point of ejaculation as he did it? Some people get off on that.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 23:26, closed)

not a chance
despite the morphine, i was in a hell of a lot of pain. my colon was trapped in the hernia and on the brink of bursting.
( Smash Monkey lowering the tone of the whole internet, Wed 17 Mar 2010, 23:41, closed)