Anaesthesia and intensive care
-
The autonomic nervous system may play an important role in tissue autoregulation as the neurohumoral transmission process has been shown to constitute the final common pathway by which the effects of many physiological and pharmacological substances are mediated. The effects of the administration of a sympathomimetic amine cannot be accurately predicted in a subject. ⋯ It is the drug of first choice in anaphylactic reactions and for severe allergic bronchospasm, and is widely used as a vasoconstrictor in surgery and with local anaesthetic agents. Adrenaline in "physiological" doses is a satisfactory and cheap alternative to other available drugs for use in septic shock and in emergence from cardiopulmonary bypass.