• V Fodale, S Mondello, C Aloisi, D Schifilliti, and Lb Santamaria.
• University of Messina, Department of Neuroscience, Psychiatric and Anesthesiological Sciences, Messina, Italy. vfodale@unime.it
• Expert Opin Drug Saf. 2008 Jul 1;7(4):447-58.

BackgroundPreliminary research results indicate that exposure to anesthetics affects health.ObjectiveTo provide, with evidence-based knowledge, the answer to the question: What are the genotoxic effects threatening people exposed to anesthetics?MethodA systematic review of scientific literature. A systematic search of The Cochrane Library, MedLine, and CINAHL resulted in a screening of 212 abstracts of which 54 articles were assessed for quality. The 54 articles assessed covered areas on general health effects (neurobehavioral effects, immunology) and, in particular, genotoxic effects.Results/ConclusionIn the scientific literature reviewed, there is evidence of exposure to anesthetics, especially nitrous oxide and halogenated gases, being associated with general health and genotoxic risks, but conflicting results have been obtained. The result of this review further stresses the need for scientific knowledge in this area and enhances the studies, above all, on people exposed for long periods.

17 keywords...

hide…