Introduction: Previous studies have suggested that Bispectral Index (BIS) may be less reliable in detecting depth of anesthesia or sedation during use of certain anesthetics or sedatives. These studies suggest that depth of sedation as measured by BIS may be drug-dependent. To date, data related to the effects of sedative agent on BIS in children are limited due to small sample sizes and inclus...

Understanding the impact of active dendritic properties on network activity in vivo has so far been restricted to studies in anesthetized animals. However, to date no study has been made to determine the direct effect of the anesthetics themselves on dendritic properties. Here, we investigated the effects of three types of anesthetics commonly used for animal experiments (urethane, pentobarbita...

BACKGROUND Volatile anesthetics such as isoflurane and halothane have been in clinical use for many years and represent the group of drugs most commonly used to maintain general anesthesia. However, despite their widespread use, the molecular mechanisms by which these drugs exert their effects are not completely understood. Recently, a seemingly paradoxical effect of general anesthetics has bee...

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,...

In Part One of this two-part series, we discussed skin physiology and anatomy as well as generalities concerning topical analgesics. This modality of therapy has lesser side effects and drug-drug interactions, and patients tolerate this form of therapy better than many oral options. Unfortunately, this modality is not used as often as it could be in chronic pain states, such as that from neurop...

Especially in the treatment of children the intraligamentary anesthesia as primary method of local pain elimination has proven to be beneficial. The anesthetising effect after intraligamental injection virtually begins without latency and is not associated with an extensive numbness, which children often find hard to tolerate(1). Combined with a short and confined duration of action of about 30...

Nephrotoxicity following administration of methoxyflurane has been shown to be directly related to anesthetic metabolism to inorganic fluoride. Enzyme induction should increase metabolic rate and the amount of inorganic fluoride that is released. In vivo studies in Fischer 344 rats show that enzyme induction with phenobarbital or phenytoin increases defluorination following methoxyflurane anest...

The currently accepted explanation of the short action of barbiturate anesthetics is that the redistribution of drug within the body compartments and also some degree of metabolism being involved. It is, however manifestly evident that the barbiturates anesthetic are not rapidly metabolized. Thus it was assumed that molecular modifications could provide barbiturates which undergo rapid metaboli...

Malignant hyperthermia is a rare but life-threatening complication of general anesthesia in predisposed patients usually triggered by potent inhalation anesthetics and/or the depolarizing muscle relaxant succinylcholine. The authors present a case of delayed sevoflurane-induced malignant hyperthermia in a 21-year-old male patient that was sufficiently treated by discontinuation of trigger agent...