A study conducted by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anesthetists, Melbourne, has revealed the anesthesia drug propofol, also known as the "Michael Jackson drug", is to be blamed for an increase in sexual hallucinations in patients undergoing surgical procedures across Australia.

So vivid are the hallucinations, that patients actually end up complaining that they have been sexually abused by anesthetists.

The study is now warning medical professionals that they need to protect themselves from "being mistakenly targeted" with more and more Australians now demanding general anesthesia even for the simplest of procedures.

ANZCA has called for presence of at least two members of the medical staff, of both genders, to be present when a surgery is underway.

"It's a relatively common even. It may not be an extreme dream - the wildly sexual ones are pretty rare - but occasionally the patient will think a real event has occurred. We are not saying it's not possible. But the likelihood of it happening in epidemic proportions is fairly unlikely", said ANZCA Professor Barry Baker.

The concerns have been raised in a paper published in the ANZCA Bulletin.