• N J O'Keeffe and T E Healy.
• Department of Anesthesia, Manchester Royal Infirmary, Manchester, UK. Niall.okeeffe@man.ac.uk
• Pharmacol. Ther. 1999 Dec 1; 84 (3): 233-48.

AbstractThe three anesthetic drugs introduced most recently to the market are sevoflurane, desflurane, and ropivacaine. Sevoflurane and desflurane are both inhalational anesthetic agents and ropivacaine is a local anesthetic agent. Sevoflurane provides a rapid onset and offset of action; it is well tolerated with little airway irritation. It is hemodynamically stable, with low potential for toxicity. Concerns about its interaction with soda lime during low-flow anesthesia with the production of Compound A have not proved to be a clinical problem. While desflurane also provides rapid onset and recovery from anesthesia, it is not as hemodynamically stable as sevoflurane, and also causes airway irritation. Ropivacaine is a unique local anesthetic in that it is supplied as the pure S-enantiomer. It is at least as effective as bupivacaine, with lower toxicity and less motor block for the same degree of sensory block.

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