Xenon (MAC = 71%) has an extremely low blood:gas partition coefficient (0.14). Therefore, we predicted that the rate of emergence from xenon anaesthesia would not be affected greatly by duration of anaesthesia. We studied 54 ASA I-II patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery who received equal MAC anaesthesia with 60% xenon, 60% nitrous oxide with 0.5% isoflurane or 60% nitrous oxide with 0.7...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Few investigations have addressed the safety of oxygen from concentrators for use in anesthesia in association with nitrous oxide. This study evaluated the percent of oxygen from a concentrator in association with nitrous oxide in a semi-closed rebreathing circuit. METHODS Adult patients undergoing low risk surgery were randomly allocated into two groups, receiving a...

Xenon anaesthesia appears to have minimal haemodynamic effects. The purpose of this randomised prospective study was to compare the cardiovascular effects of xenon and nitrous oxide in patients with known ischaemic heart disease. In 20 patients who were due to undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery, 30 min following induction of anaesthesia with fentanyl 30 microg x kg(-1) and midazolam 0...

INTRODUCTION Pain and distress during minor hospital-related procedures is a familiar problem in many children. Inadequate relief of children's procedural pain and distress not only affects the experience of the children and their parents, but also adversely impacts procedural success. We aimed to review the safety and efficacy of nitrous oxide during brief, but painful paediatric procedures an...

IN the majority of anaesthetics given to patients in the dental surgery or clinic the agents used are nitrous oxide and oxygen with or without a supplement such as trichloroethylene. If nitrous oxide with oxygen or air is used alone then it is often difficult to obtain satisfactory conditions for the dentist without subjecting the patient to some degree of hypoxia. There is no doubt that hypoxi...

INTRODUCTION The inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) block does not always result in successful pulpal anesthesia. Anesthetic success rates might be affected by increased anxiety. Nitrous oxide has been shown to have both anxiolytic and analgesic properties. Therefore, the purpose of this prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was to determine the effect of nitrous oxide on t...

We have compared the ability of equipotent concentrations of isoflurane and sevoflurane to enhance the effect of non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking drugs. Ninety ASA I and II patients of both sexes, aged 18-50 yr, were stratified into three blocker groups (Vec, Pan and Atr), to undergo neuromuscular block with vecuronium (n = 30), pancuronium (n = 30) or atracurium (n = 30), respectively. ...

The relation between anesthetic gas exposure and spontaneous abortion remains unresolved. We examined the effect of nitrous oxide on spontaneous abortion among female dental assistants. Questionnaires were sent to 7,000 dental assistants aged 18-39 years who were registered in California in 1987; 4,856 (69%) responded. Analysis was based on 1,465 respondents whose most recent pregnancy was conc...

Context Periodontal surgical procedures produce varying degree of stress in all patients. Nitrous oxide-oxygen inhalation sedation is very effective for adult patients with mild-to-moderate anxiety due to dental procedures and needle phobia. Aim The present study was designed to perform periodontal surgical procedures under nitrous oxide-oxygen inhalation sedation and assess whether this tech...