PURPOSE Case reports with a comprehensive review of the current literature concerning subacute combined degeneration induced by nitrous oxide inhalation. A differential diagnosis should be considered when young patients present with progressive myelopathy because that the misuse of nitrous oxide has potentially serious outcomes. CASES REPORT Three young patients aged from 18 to 24, one male a...

BACKGROUND Children undergoing urologic imaging studies requiring urethral catheterization experience considerable discomfort and psychological distress. Nitrous oxide sedation may mitigate these detriments but the requirement for physician administration has limited the applicability of this technique. METHODS Registered nurses underwent the nitrous oxide training requirements prescribed for...

AIMS To compare environmental and biological monitoring of midwives for nitrous oxide in a delivery suite environment. METHODS Environmental samples were taken over a period of four hours using passive diffusion tubes. Urine measurements were taken at the start of the shift and after four hours. RESULTS Environmental levels exceeded the legal occupational exposure standards for nitrous oxid...

We have investigated the possible toxicity of nitrous oxide on vitamin B12 and its sequelae upon folic acid metabolism using the urine formiminoglutamic acid excretion test, an index of the functional state of folate metabolism. Ten control subjects not exposed to nitrous oxide and five patients receiving limb surgery under local anaesthesia excreted normal amounts of formiminoglutamic acid in ...

We have compared the effects of 50% nitrous oxide and propofol, each administered concurrently with sufentanil, on the amplitudes and latencies of the compound muscle action potential (CMAP) response to transcranial electrical stimulation. Using a crossover design, 12 patients undergoing spinal surgery were exposed to both 50% nitrous oxide and propofol, the latter in a bolus-infusion regimen. ...

BACKGROUND Nitrous oxide diffuses easily from blood into air filled spaces. Xenon is also a relatively insoluble gas, like nitrous oxide. Therefore, the authors measured xenon diffusion into obstructed bowel segments during xenon anesthesia and compared this with nitrous oxide and nitrogen diffusion. METHODS Twenty-one pentobarbital-anesthetized pigs were randomly assigned to three groups to ...

Although often felt to be relatively innocuous, nitrous oxide can have significant metabolic effects in settings of abnormal vitamin B12 and B12-related metabolism in children. These conditions can be genetic or environmental. Symptoms may not appear until days to weeks after exposure to nitrous oxide. Although overt genetic diseases are relatively uncommon, the implications of nitrous oxide in...

Extensive clinical use has now been made of the nitrous oxide test for the detection and localization of left-to-right circulatory shunts. On theoretical grounds the magnitude of such a shunt should be related to the systemic and pulmonary arteriovenous differences in nitrous oxide content measured early in the period of inhalation. In order to determine the validity of the nitrous oxide method...

Prolonged anaesthesia with nitrous oxide inactivates vitamin B12 and impairs DNA synthesis in bone marrow cells. The use of parenteral folinic acid in the prevention of these toxic effects has been studied in 11 patients, ventilated artificially with nitrous oxide in oxygen for 24 h. Bone marrow aspirates were performed before and after exposure to nitrous oxide. They were assessed morphologica...

Extensive clinical use has now been made of the nitrous oxide test for the detection and localization of left-to-right circulatory shunts. On theoretical grounds the magnitude of such a shunt should be related to the systemic and pulmonary arteriovenous differences in nitrous oxide content measured early in the period of inhalation. In order to determine the validity of the nitrous oxide method...