Question:
My boyfriend has an important meeting the day I go for my rhinoplasty. I’ll be under twilight anaesthesia. Would it be okay if after he drove me home he left for work, or is it the same as with general anesthesia that I’ll need someone to take care of me for the entire day? He’d only be gone for about 5 hours. I know it’d be ideal if he was there but is it very dangerous or not?

Dr A’s Answer:
Standard of Care After Anesthesia:

The standard of care is that a responsible party signs off as accepting the patient when they leave the facility and will continue to be responsible for 24 hours. Twilight anesthesia and general are the same in this respect. Please realize, that after receiving medications like those used for twilight, judgement and memory are impaired. On many occasions I have had lengthy, seemingly intelligent discussions with patients who behave quite normally only to discover the next day that they have no recollection of that conversation. I joke that you don’t want to find out a week after surgery that you went on QVC buying binge when boxes start showing up, but in truth it is not a joke. You could do something your really shouldn’t be doing.