BIOM 3090 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Curare, Hepatotoxicity, Chloroform
23 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
General anesthetics induce a generalized, reversible depression of the central nervous system. Other desirable effects provided by anesthetics of adjuvant during surgery may include muscle relaxation, loss of autonomic reflexes, analgesia and anxiolysis. These effects facilitate safe and painless completion of the procedure. Premedications/pre-anaesthetics refer to a variety of injectable drugs. Sedatives or anxiolytics: these act as tranquilizers to calm the patient and reduce activity. Analgesics: minimize or abolish intra and post-op pain. Premedications are also used for minor diagnostic or surgical procedures in order to reduce the dose of general anesthetic needed to produce unconsciousness. Selected sedative classes include alpha-2 agonists like dexmedetomidine and benzodiazepines like diazepam. Many types of sedatives can be applied and have sedative and analgesic beneficial effects. Mechanism of action: stimulation of alpha-2 receptors which opens potassium channels and inhibits neurotransmitter release in various brain pathways. They act primarily at a2 receptors in the brain and spinal cord as opposed to periphery.
