PURPOSE To investigate the effects of occupational exposure to waste anesthetic gases on genetic material and antioxidant status in professionals during their medical residency. METHODS The study group consisted of 15 medical residents from Anesthesiology and Surgery areas, of both genders, mainly exposed to isoflurane and to a lesser degree to sevoflurane and nitrous oxide; the control group...

The dctcrmination of anesthetic gases in blood taken from patients during anesthesia has been reported in several instances (l-3). In each case, however, reservation has been made as to the accuracy of the results because of errors in the vacuum extraction method. The principal source of error has been that the volume of gas determined was not corrected for unextracted gas. This technical diffi...

Xenon is one of noble gases and has been recognized as an anesthetic for more than 50 years. Xenon possesses many of the characteristics of an ideal anesthetic, but it is not widely applied in clinical practice mainly because of its high cost. In recent years, numerous studies have demonstrated that xenon as an anesthetic can exert neuroprotective and cardioprotective effects in different model...

In the past decade there has been a resurgence of interest in the clinical use of inert gases. In the present paper we review the use of inert gases as anesthetics and neuroprotectants, with particular attention to the clinical use of xenon. We discuss recent advances in understanding the molecular pharmacology of xenon and we highlight specific pharmacological targets that may mediate its acti...

Objective: To assess the occupational hazard of unscavenged waste anesthetic gases on reproductive health (infertility, abortions, preterm delivery and congenital anomalies) in personnel working in operating rooms. Methods: The study was conducted by a questionnaire-based survey of 99 operating room personnel and 118 non exposed personnel from the general wards in Omdurman Military Hospital, Om...

The Montgomery T-tube poses a challenge to anesthesiologists because of loss of anesthetic gases through the open proximal end of the vertical limb and lack of standard anesthesia circuit connectors. Here, we present a case of a 25-year-old woman with a reported history of accidental strangulation 18 months previously. The patient had a metallic tracheostomy tube in situ due to the development ...

THE mechanism by which general anesthetics prevent consciousness remains unknown largely because the mechanism by which brain physiology produces consciousness is unexplained. But the two mysteries seem to share a critical feature—both consciousness and actions of anesthetic gases are mediated through extremely weak London forces (a type of van der Waals force) acting in hydrophobic pockets wit...

Background: Some operating room personnel are occupationally exposed to genotoxic agents such as anesthetic gases and ionizing radiation. Adaptive response, as a defense mechanism, will occur when cells become exposed to a low dose of factors harming DNA (priming dose), which in the subsequent exposure to higher dose of those factors (challenging dose), show more resistance and sensibility.. <b...