BACKGROUND There is an unsettled discussion about whether the distribution of local anesthetic is free or inhibited when performing brachial plexus blocks. This is the first study to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help answer this question. METHODS Thirteen patients received axillary block by a catheter-nerve stimulator technique. After locating the median nerve, a total dose of 50 m...

A prospective controlled trial was conducted to compare the efficacy of an analgesic cream (eutectic mixture of local anesthetics, or EMLA) with a combination of EMLA with hypnosis in the relief of lumbar puncture-induced pain and anxiety in 45 pediatric cancer patients (age 6-16 years). The study also explored whether young patients can be taught and can use hypnosis independently as well as w...

Anesthetics expand cell membranes, and high pressures (about 10-15 MPa) antagonize the anesthetic action. It is also known that inhalation anesthetics expand elastomer membranes. The mechanism of pressure antagonism of anesthetic action on membrane expansion was investigated in the present study with Silastic membranes. Halothane increased the length of Silastic membrane (0.14% per kPa), with a...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE One goal of anesthesia for renal transplantation is to avoid an excess load to be imposed on the newly functioning kidney, by using appropriate agents and dosages in the perioperative management. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of prilocaine on serum methemoglobin levels when used as the local anesthetic in epidural anesthesia for renal transplan...

K etamine has a special position among anesthetic drugs. It was introduced into clinical practice >30 yr ago with the hope that it would function as a “monoanesthetic” drug: inducing analgesia, amnesia, loss of consciousness, and immobility. This dream was not fulfilled because significant side effects were soon reported. With the introduction of other IV anesthetic drugs, ketamine’s role dimin...

UNLABELLED Anesthetics cause a reduction in excitatory neurotransmission that may be important in the mechanisms of in vivo anesthetic action. Because glutamate is the major excitatory neurotransmitter in mammalian brain, evaluation of anesthetic effects on induced glutamate release is relevant for studying this potential mechanism of anesthetic action. In the present study, we compared the eff...

Lallemantia royleana (Balangu) is a well known Iranian medicinal plant that its seed mucilage has many applications in modern pharmacology. Plant mucilage traditionally was used as a gel supplement, and natural matrix for sustained release of drugs. But it seems that these compounds are not a simple additive and also have many undiscovered pharmacological properties. In this research, the anest...

A dentist's ability to safely administer regional anesthesia is essential for dental practice. Local anesthetic solutions used in the United States for dental anesthesia are formulated with several components. The contents of a standard local anesthetic cartridge may include an amide or ester local anesthetic drug, an adrenergic vasoconstrictor, and an antioxidant. In susceptible patients, any ...

PURPOSE Amide type local anesthetic agents are among the most commonly used drugs in medicine. Several adverse drug reactions (ADRs) have been previously described with their use. Among them, allergic reactions are considered rare. The aim of this study was to describe the main characteristics of ADRs induced by amide type local anesthetic drugs. METHODS We studied reports recorded in the Fre...

The antagonizing action of hydrostatic pressure against anesthesia is well known. The present study was undertaken to quantitate the effects of hydrostatic pressure and anesthetics upon the phase-transition temperature of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine vesicles. The drugs used to anesthetize the phospholipid vesicles included an inhalation anesthetic, halothane, a dissociable local anesthetic,...