This chapter focuses on the pharmacology of the inhaled anesthetics, including their mechanisms of action and clinical effects (pharmacodynamics). Related pharmacokinetic principles of inhaled anesthetics are covered in Chapter 3 . Historical Perspective Discovery of Inhaled Anesthetics The German physician…
Historical Perspective The discovery of drugs with anesthetic properties was a landmark event in the history of pharmacology, medicine, and even civilization, in that it made otherwise painful surgical treatments of disease possible. Without a means of providing anesthesia, it…
Understanding the basic principles of pharmacology is fundamental to the practice of medicine in general, but is perhaps most relevant to the practice of anesthesiology. It is now widely accepted that cells contain a host of specific receptors that mediate…
Key Points ▪ Anesthesia consists of separable and independent components, each of which involves distinct, but possibly overlapping, mechanisms at different sites in the central nervous system. ▪ The potencies of general anesthetics correlate with their solubility in oil, indicating…