A method and an apparatus for monitoring a sedated patient, the method comprising thesteps of providing a skin conductance signal measured at an area of the patient's skin,establishing the existence of at least one fluctuation peak in the skin conductancesignal through a time interval, providing a width value of said fluctuation peakin the skin conductance signal through said time interval, and comparing thewidth value with a reference value. If said width value is larger than the reference value,an output signal is provided which indicates the state of awakening in the patient.If the width value is less than the reference value, an output signal is providedwhich indicates the state of pain in the patient.
