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General anaesthetics can be administered either as gases or vapours (inhalational anaesthetics), or as injections (intravenous or even intramuscular).All of these agents share the property of being quite hydrophobic (i.e., as liquids, they are not freely miscible—or mixable—in water, and as gases they dissolve in oils better than in water).
Prior to administration of a general anaesthetic, the anaesthetist may administer one or more drugs that complement or improve the quality or safety of the anaesthetic or simply provide anxiolysis. Premedication also often has mild sedative effects and may reduce the amount of anaesthetic agent required during the case. [6]
Halothane, an agent introduced in the 1950s, has been almost completely replaced in modern anesthesia practice by newer agents because of its shortcomings. [10] Partly because of its side effects, enflurane never gained widespread popularity. [10] In theory, any inhaled anesthetic agent can be used for induction of general anesthesia.
All of these agents share the property of being quite hydrophobic (i.e., as liquids, they are not freely miscible with water, and as gases they dissolve in oils better than in water). [3] The ideal volatile anaesthetic agent offers smooth and reliable induction and maintenance of general anaesthesia with minimal effects on non-target organ systems.
The purpose of anesthesia can be distilled down to three basic goals or endpoints: [2]: 236 hypnosis (a temporary loss of consciousness and with it a loss of memory.In a pharmacological context, the word hypnosis usually has this technical meaning, in contrast to its more familiar lay or psychological meaning of an altered state of consciousness not necessarily caused by drugs—see hypnosis).
[5] [10] [32] [33] [34] This was the advent of ethanol (commonly known as drinking alcohol), the first general anaesthetic agent. [1] [2] [3] [7] These accounts of the anesthetic uses of ethanol come from the oldest known historical civilization of Sumer and are documented in the oldest known writing system cuneiform.
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.
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 .