Interesting idea! I think it's commonly accepted that regular mental stimulation is a good way to prevent it from happening. Whether said mental stimulation occurs while awake or asleep probably doesn't really make a difference. Then again, can't you potentially be mentally stimulated in the non-lucid dreams that you don't remember? If so, then I don't know how much of a difference the LD's will make.

With surgery, I've found that it wasn't so much that you close your eyes, and poof, you're awake in a different room. It's more like you feel like you slept real deep for a few hours. Like, when you go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning, you don't remember anything, but you have some kind of a feel for how much time you've been sleeping for.