nitrous oxide anesthesia

BACKGROUND: Nitrous oxide (N2 O) is a gas used in medicine for its analgesic, anxiolytic and amnesic properties. It is a drug considered safe if adequately administered. In the literature, accidental N2 O-related deaths are rare. They are mostly related to inhalation of this substance for recreational and autoerotic purposes; rarely are reported deaths due to incorrect administration of medical gas in anesthesia. The diagnosis of death from acute N2 O intoxication is complex and is generally an exclusion diagnosis: the macroscopic and microscopic post-mortem signs are entirely nonspecific...

NMDA receptor inhibition has been identified as a key functional property of numerous psychoactive drugs, anesthetics, and analgesics including alcohol, nitrous oxide, dextromethorphan, phencyclidine, and ketamine. This report investigates the role of NMDA receptor inhibition in ketamine-induced anesthesia by comparing the effects of systemic injections of ketamine and the highly selective NMDA receptor antagonist CGS 19755 on intracortical electrophysiological activity and behavior in rhesus macaques. Changes in cortical electrophysiology following sub-anesthetic doses of CGS 19755 resemble the "gamma-burst" activity caused by anesthetic doses of ketamine, while the behavioral effects of the two drugs differ considerably...

BACKGROUND: Mask induction of anesthesia for pediatric patients has included the use of nitrous oxide since the inception of pediatric anesthesia. However, the use of nitrous oxide precludes adequate preoxygenation. Additionally, pediatric physiology (less Functional Residual Capacity, higher oxygen consumption), increased risk of laryngospasm and lack of intravenous access increase the risk of a severe airway complication in the event of airway occlusion. Nitrous oxide does not facilitate tranquil mask placement on an unwilling child and does not meaningfully speed mask induction...

Nitrous oxide (N2 O) is a unique anesthetic agent that has both advantages and disadvantages, especially in neurosurgical patients. Various studies evaluating the use of N2 O in different surgical populations have been inconclusive so far. In this prospective, single-blinded, randomized study, 50 patients of either sex, aged 18-60 years, were enrolled and randomly allocated into N2 O or N2 O free group. Data including demographics, intraoperative vitals, blood gases, intravenous fluids, anesthetic drug consumption, brain condition, emergence and recovery time, duration of surgery and anesthesia, duration of postoperative ventilation, perioperative complications, condition at discharge, and duration of intensive care unit & hospital stay were recorded...

AIM: To investigate whether IV lidocaine improves emergence, early recovery, and late recovery after general anesthesia in women who undergo breast surgery. METHODS: Sixty-seven women with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I-II, scheduled for breast surgery were randomized to receive an IV lidocaine 1.5 mg/kg bolus (n=34) or saline placebo (n=33) before tracheal extubation. Anesthesia was induced with thiopental, vecuronium, and fentanyl, and maintained with sevoflurane~1 MAC and 50% nitrous-oxide in oxygen...

BACKGROUND: Pediatric dentists often find it challenging to handle pediatric patients due to their fear, unease, and anxiety toward dental procedures. To address this, sedation agents such as intranasal midazolam and nitrous oxide are commonly used as pharmacological behavior management methods. A child's temperament affects their behavior in unfamiliar settings. AIM: To study the effect of child temperament on the acceptance of the nasal mask and intranasal drug administration in children undergoing dental treatment...

PURPOSE: Ureteral stent placement is one of the most common procedures performed by urologists, and is typically done in the operating room. At Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport, urologists have a unique setting allowing them to place ureteral stents for patients present in the outpatient ambulatory clinic without the need for nitrous oxide. This allows patients to avoid being admitted to the hospital and receiving subsequent general anesthesia in the operating room. Therefore, our novel study evaluates the feasibility, safety, and cost-effectiveness of ureteral stents insertion in the clinic...

Background Behavioral management techniques are employed for children who are fearful and uncooperative. Pharmacologic sedation and anesthesia are frequently utilized to manage pain and anxiety in pediatric dental patients. Aim  To evaluate the intraoperative and postoperative pain levels during dental treatment of children sedated with 1.5 μg/kg intranasal dexmedetomidine, 0.3 mg/kg intranasal midazolam, and nitrous oxide. Materials and methods In this crossover study, 24 children between the ages of five and seven years were randomly assigned to receive intranasal atomized dexmedetomidine, intranasal atomized midazolam, and inhaled nitrous oxide during three different visits...

INTRODUCTION: Xenon exhibits significant neuroprotection against a wide range of neurological insults in animal models. However, clinical evidence that xenon improves outcomes in human studies of neurological injury remains elusive. Previous reviews of xenon's method of action have not been performed in a systematic manner. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive summary of the evidence underlying the cellular interactions responsible for two phenomena associated with xenon administration: anesthesia and neuroprotection...

AIM: EMONO is an equimolar mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide. Studies investigating its anxiolytic effect mostly used behavioral scales for assessing anxiolysis in children during dental care. Observing this effect objectively in a pediatric population could be very interesting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a prospective uncontrolled monocentric pilot study to assess the equimolar mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide (EMONO) anxiolytic effect in children during dental care by monitoring heart rate (HR) variation...

Nitrous oxide is a useful inhaled analgesic. Due to its high global warming potential and ozone-depleting properties, the nitrous oxide emissions related to health care are being increasingly scrutinized. In this narrative review, we will discuss the clinical uses of nitrous oxide relevant to anesthetists, in addition to its contribution as a greenhouse gas. Using available data from Australia, we will explore potential strategies for reducing the impact of those emissions, which are likely to be applicable in other countries...

This study aimed to assess knowledge about non-pharmacological pain-relief methods in labor among women who have given birth at least once. This cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey among 466 adult women. The minimum sample size was estimated based on the number of labor admissions in the year before the study in Poland. The survey included questions about respondents' sociodemographics and knowledge of pain-relief methods. The knowledge score was calculated using the sum of correct answers...

Support-vector machines (SVMs) can potentially improve patient monitoring during nitrous oxide anaesthesia. By elucidating the effects of low-dose nitrous oxide on the power spectra of multi-channel EEG recordings, we quantified the degree to which these effects generalise across participants. In this single-blind, cross-over study, 32-channel EEG was recorded from 12 healthy participants exposed to 0, 20, 30 and 40% end-tidal nitrous oxide. Features of the delta-, theta-, alpha- and beta-band power were used within a 12-fold, participant-wise cross-validation framework to train and test two SVMs: (1) binary SVM classifying EEG during 0 or 40% exposure (chance = 50%); (2) multi-class SVM classifying EEG during 0, 20, 30 or 40% exposure (chance = 25%)...

A 12-year-old Caucasian male undergoing a dental extraction for a grossly carious mandibular molar under inhalational sedation with nitrous oxide/oxygen experienced an episode of anterior epistaxis postoperatively that was controlled well with local measures. Epistaxis following inhalational sedation with nitrous oxide/oxygen in the dental setting is a very rare complication but has been previously reported in the literature. This case report provides a review of the existing literature regarding cases of epistaxis associated with inhalational sedation using nitrous oxide/oxygen and discusses the potential etiology of epistaxis associated with inhalational sedation...

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the success of procedural conscious sedation using inhaled equimolar nitrous oxide-oxygen (NOIS-EMONO) in patients undergoing routine dental and oral surgery procedures in a Swiss university hospital setting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients that underwent NOIS-supported procedures between 2018 and 2022 at the oral surgery department of the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG), Switzerland...

Relying on original, primary source documentation from the National Archives, we describe the practice of anesthesia in mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) units and the 171st Evacuation Hospital during the latter part of the Korean War in 1953. Values were scaled and reported as percentages. These Essential Technical Medical Data Sheets reveal a surprising proportion (12.9%) of men received spinal anesthetics, despite official recommendations to the contrary. Still, the majority (69.2%) of the wounded underwent general anesthesia, most commonly through a mixture of thiopental and nitrous oxide...

BACKGROUND: Inhalational anesthetic agents are potent greenhouse gases with global warming potential that far exceed that of carbon dioxide. Traditionally, pediatric inhalation inductions are achieved with a volatile anesthetic delivered to the patient in oxygen and nitrous oxide at high fresh gas flows. While contemporary volatile anesthetics and anesthesia machines allow for a more environmentally conscious induction, practice has not changed. We aimed to reduce the environmental impact of our inhalation inductions by decreasing the use of nitrous oxide and fresh gas flows...

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to synthesize indication-based evidence for N2 O for distress and pain in children. STUDY DESIGN: We included trials of N2 O in participants 0-21 years, reporting distress or pain for emergency department procedures. The primary outcome was procedural distress. Where meta-analysis was not possible, we used Tricco et al.'s classification of "neutral" (p ≥ 0.05), "favorable," or "unfavorable" (p < 0...

Dental treatment of epilepsy patients is often challenging and requires careful consideration of their sudden movements. Epilepsy patients often require sedation (e.g., nitrous oxide or intravenous sedation) to receive their required dental treatments. Rolandic epilepsy (RE) is a specific type of epilepsy in children with certain electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities and motor focal seizures with no signs of neurological deficits. This report discusses a case of an RE patient who was treated comprehensively under local anesthesia with careful evaluation of the patient's medical conditions...

BACKGROUND: Children are particularly vulnerable to adverse health outcomes related to climate change. Inhalational anesthetics are potent greenhouse gasses (GHGs) and contribute significantly to health care-generated emissions. Desflurane and nitrous oxide have very high global warming potentials. Eliminating their use, as well as lowering fresh gas flows (FGFs), will lead to reduced emissions. METHODS: Using published calculations for converting volatile anesthetic concentrations to carbon dioxide equivalents (CO 2 e), we derived the average kilograms (kg) CO 2 e/min for every anesthetic administered in the operating rooms at our pediatric hospital and ambulatory surgical center between October 2017 and October 2022...