Articles: general-anesthesia.
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The large number and diversity of anesthetic agents were evident to investigators 80 years ago, and suggested a physicochemical theory of anesthesia. Meyer and Overton were the first to offer a quantitative relationship between a physicochemical property and potency of anesthetic agents. They also focused attention on the lipid phase as the site of anesthetic action. ⋯ The microtubule theory of Allison and Nunn has not accumulated supporting evidence comparable to the lipid theories. Contradictory evidence makes any evaluation of this theory speculative. Additionally, the interspecies and intracellular variability of microtubules raises questions of the relevance of many studies...
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Following the report of the death of a patient concurrently taking fenfluramine, following routine general anaesthesia, a series of anaesthetised rabbits received injections of adrenaline or fenfluramine. There were abnormal electrocardiographic changes and phonocardiographic evidence of altered heart activity in both groups, but the changes seen with fenfluramine were greater in number and less readily reversed with beta blockers and resuscitative drugs. This evidence may support an interaction between halothane and fenfluramine in man, and it is suggested that the latter drug be discontinued for a week prior to anaesthesia for elective surgery.
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Rev Electroencephalogr Neurophysiol Clin · Jan 1977
[An examination of current techniques in anaesthesia (author's transl)].
The techniques of general anaesthesia may be divided into 2 major groups: those used in very brief surgical or diagnostic operations and those used in longer and more pain-producing interventions. The former normally involve a single drug which is very short-acting and allows consciousness to be recovered rapidly and well. The latter are anaesthetics using several drugs together, which allows very precise control of the degree of analgesia, neuro-vegetative protection, muscle relaxation and sleep. ⋯ E. G. remains a technique of choice for studying recovery, and any sequels of hypoxia during the operation. This should, of course, be accompanied by a clinical evaluation which is particularly important in assessing the state of ventilation (residual curarisation, depression by central analgesics).