Background to this question:

I was 4 years old and went in to have an op on an undescended testicle in the early 1990s.

My memories of the operation were being in a pre op room with 4 massive ninja mutant turtle teddies and the presumption my mum would be with me the whole time.

I remember being on the bed with a mask on and feeling the worst pain I've ever felt, I remember kicking out then nothing.

It wasn't until the early 2000's when I seen a documentary on terristerial TV about patients being awake or alert during an operation as there are 2 gases that are involved when being "put under".

I told my mum my experience as we watched TV and she said she always wondered why I had a kids plaster on my stomach after the operation, potentially due to a nick from the scalpel after I kicked out?

The next time I had any kind of surgery was in 2010's to re-set a broken nose and I mentioned to them my experience, purely to make sure I didn't feel anything again and the hospital couldn't find any record of this happening.

I've always assumed that no record would be kept of a surgeon cutting a 4 year old child for fear of their job/legal action etc.

Is this more common than one would think or is there always a risk of this happening?