Anesthesia or anaesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical or veterinary purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia, paralysis, amnesia, and unconsciousness. An individual under the effects of anesthetic drugs is referred to as being anesthetized.
Halothane, sold under the brand name Fluothane among others, is a general anaesthetic. It can be used to induce or maintain anaesthesia. One of its benefits is that it does not increase the production of saliva, which can be particularly useful in those who are difficult to intubate. It is given by inhalation.
General anaesthesia (UK) or general anesthesia (US) is a method of medically inducing loss of consciousness that renders a patient unarousable even with painful stimuli. This effect is achieved by administering either intravenous or inhalational general anaesthetic medications, which often act in combination with an analgesic and neuromuscular blocking agent. Spontaneous ventilation is often inadequate during the procedure and intervention is often necessary to protect the airway. General anaesthesia is generally performed in an operating theater to allow surgical procedures that would otherwise be intolerably painful for a patient, or in an intensive care unit or emergency department to facilitate endotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation in critically ill patients. Depending on the procedure, general anaesthesia may be optional or required. Regardless of whether a patient may prefer to be unconscious or not, certain pain stimuli could result in involuntary responses from the patient that may make an operation extremely difficult. Thus, for many procedures, general anaesthesia is required from a practical perspective.
Awareness under anesthesia, also referred to as intraoperative awareness or accidental awareness during general anesthesia (AAGA), is a rare complication of general anesthesia where patients regain varying levels of consciousness during their surgical procedures. While anesthesia awareness is possible without resulting in any long-term memory of the experience, it is also possible for victims to have awareness with explicit recall, where they can remember the events related to their surgery.
The Blalock–Thomas–Taussig shunt, previously known as the Blalock–Taussig Shunt, is a surgical procedure used to increase blood flow to the lungs in some forms of congenital heart disease such as pulmonary atresia and tetralogy of Fallot, which are common causes of blue baby syndrome. The procedure involves connecting a branch of the subclavian artery or carotid artery to the pulmonary artery. In modern practice, this procedure is temporarily used to direct blood flow to the lungs and relieve cyanosis while the infant is waiting for corrective or definitive surgery when their heart is larger. The BTT shunt is used in the first step of the three-stage palliation.
Epidural administration is a method of medication administration in which a medicine is injected into the epidural space around the spinal cord. The epidural route is used by physicians and nurse anesthetists to administer local anesthetic agents, analgesics, diagnostic medicines such as radiocontrast agents, and other medicines such as glucocorticoids. Epidural administration involves the placement of a catheter into the epidural space, which may remain in place for the duration of the treatment. The technique of intentional epidural administration of medication was first described in 1921 by Spanish military surgeon Fidel Pagés.
Perioperative mortality has been defined as any death, regardless of cause, occurring within 30 days after surgery in or out of the hospital. Globally, 4.2 million people are estimated to die within 30 days of surgery each year. An important consideration in the decision to perform any surgical procedure is to weigh the benefits against the risks. Anesthesiologists and surgeons employ various methods in assessing whether a patient is in optimal condition from a medical standpoint prior to undertaking surgery, and various statistical tools are available. ASA score is the most well known of these.
Heart is a biweekly peer-reviewed medical journal covering all areas of cardiovascular medicine and surgery. It is the official journal of the British Cardiovascular Society. It was established in 1939 as the British Heart Journal and is published by the BMJ Group. The name was changed from British Heart Journal to Heart in 1996 with the start of volume 75. The editor-in-chief is Catherine Otto.
Neuroscience is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of neuroscience. It was established in 1976 with P.G. Kostyuk, Rodolfo Llinás, and A.D. Smith as founding editors-in-chief and originally published by Pergamon Press. The current editor-in-chief is Juan Lerma Gómez. The journal is published by Elsevier on behalf of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO).
EP Europace is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by Oxford University Press that publishes research articles about the study and management of cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac pacing, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology. It is 1 of 13 official journals of the European Society of Cardiology and is the official journal of the society's working groups on Cardiac Cellular Electrophysiology and e-Cardiology and of the European Heart Rhythm Association.
Virology Journal is an open-access peer-reviewed medical journal published by BioMed Central. It publishes research related to viruses and the prevention of viral infection. The journal was established in 2004 with Robert Garry as founding editor-in-chief and has been edited by Linfa Wang since 2012. It aims to cover rapid communications amongst virologists.
Frontiers in Psychology is a peer-reviewed open-access academic journal covering all aspects of psychology. It was established in 2010 and is published by Frontiers Media, a controversial company that is included in Jeffrey Beall's list of "potential, possible, or probable predatory publishers". The editor-in-chief is Axel Cleeremans.
Joachim Boldt is a German anesthesiologist who fabricated or falsified data, including those reporting clinical trial results.
Scientific Reports is a peer-reviewed open-access scientific mega journal published by Nature Portfolio, covering all areas of the natural sciences. The journal was established in 2011. The journal states that their aim is to assess solely the scientific validity of a submitted paper, rather than its perceived importance, significance, or impact.
Emergence delirium is a condition in which emergence from general anesthesia is accompanied by psychomotor agitation. Some see a relation to pavor nocturnus while others see a relation to the excitement stage of anesthesia.
Food and Chemical Toxicology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering aspects of food safety, chemical safety, and other aspects of consumer product safety. It is published by Elsevier and was established in 1963. The editor-in-chief is Bryan Delaney.
Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of the biology of cells, especially their biochemistry and biophysics. It was established in 1979 as Cell Biophysics with Nicholas Catsimpoolas as founding editor-in-chief, obtaining its current name in 1996. The journal is published by Springer Science+Business Media and the editor-in-chief is Lawrence J. Berliner.
The International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health was a quarterly peer-reviewed public health journal with a focus on occupational and environmental health. It was established in 1995 and was published by Routledge. The last editor-in-chief was Andrew Maier.
Acta Medica Mediterranea is a bimonthly peer-reviewed open-access medical journal. It was established in 1985 and is published by Editore Carbone. The editors-in-chief are Alberto Notarbartolo and Pasquale Mansueto.
The Indian Journal of Medical Ethics is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering medical ethics and bioethics. It was established in 1993 by the Forum for Medical Ethics Society, an activist group campaigning to reform the Maharashtra Medical Council. The journal was originally entitled Medical Ethics, and its first issue was published in August 1993. It obtained its current title in January 2004. The editor-in-chief is Amar Jesani. The online version of the journal is open-access, the printed version is subscription-based; there are no article processing charges.
