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General anaesthetics (or anesthetics) are often defined as compounds that induce a loss of consciousness in humans or loss of righting reflex in animals. Clinical definitions are also extended to include an induced coma that causes lack of awareness to painful stimuli, sufficient to facilitate surgical applications in clinical and veterinary practice.
General anaesthesia is usually induced in an operating theatre or in an anaesthetic room next to the theatre. More rarely, it may be induced in an endoscopy suite, intensive care unit , radiology or cardiology department, emergency department , ambulance, or even at the site of a disaster where extrication of the patient may be impractical.
Leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylum novogranatense var. Novogranatense), from which cocaine, a naturally occurring local anesthetic, is derived [1] [2]. An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia — in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness.
Each anesthetic has its own potency, which is correlated to its solubility in oil. This relationship exists because the drugs bind directly to cavities in proteins of the central nervous system, although several theories of general anesthetic action have been described. Inhalational anesthetics are thought to exact their effects on different ...
This allows patients to undergo surgery and other procedures without the distress and pain they would otherwise experience. An alternative definition is a "reversible lack of awareness," including a total lack of awareness (e.g. a general anesthetic) or a lack of awareness of a part of the body such as a spinal anesthetic.
Anesthesiology, anaesthesiology or anaesthesia is the medical specialty concerned with the total perioperative care of patients before, during and after surgery. [1] It encompasses anesthesia, intensive care medicine, critical emergency medicine, and pain medicine. [2]
A general anaesthetic (or anesthetic) is a drug that brings about a reversible loss of consciousness. [2] These drugs are generally administered by an anaesthetist/ anesthesiologist to induce or maintain general anaesthesia to facilitate surgery .
MAC is used to compare the strengths, or potency, of anaesthetic vapours. [1] The concept of MAC was first introduced in 1965. [2] MAC actually is a median value, not a minimum as term implies. The original paper proposed MAC as the minimal alveolar concentration, [3] which was shortly thereafter revised to minimum alveolar concentration. [4]