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by JshWright 2658 days ago
Yes. The anesthetist is monitoring the patient's vital signs, and one of the things they are watching for are elevations of the heart rate, indicating inadequate sedation.

This isn't foolproof though. Not everyone will have the same physiological response, and over the course of an hours long procedure (during which nothing happens in the "routine" case), it's easy to lose focus and perhaps not notice a change for a little while...