What Types Of General Anesthesia Are There?

General anesthesia is a pharmaceutical drug that doctors use in operating rooms to induce anesthesia, or anesthesia. This condition is characterized by progressive and controlled depression of the functions of the central nervous system.

When a person is under the effect of different types of general anesthesia, they lose consciousness. In addition, they do not respond to painful stimulants. Depending on the effect the doctors will achieve, they use different types of general anesthesia. However, they usually achieve similar results.

Here are some examples:

• Insensitivity to pain.
• Loss of reflexes.
• Complete memory loss about everything that happened during the operation.
• Skeletal muscle relaxation.
• Loss of consciousness.

All in all , all these effects come from different areas of the central nervous system. To get all of them with just one drug, it would require very high concentrations. Precisely because of this, combinations are used. This prevents irreversible depression of important areas of the brain.

Characteristics of general anesthesia

Many great advances have been made in the field of anesthesia. However, researchers still do not know exactly which structures are affected and which molecules these drugs affect. Yet they know that they cause anesthesia and hypnosis. They do this by modifying several processes and paths at a deep level.

All in all, there are some scientific hypotheses about how they work:

• General anesthesia has an unspecified action on the properties of the neuronal membrane.
• The Meyer-Overton Theory of Anesthesia  states that these drugs act on lipid targets or fats. The strength is therefore determined by their solubility in fat.
• These are medications that act on protein receptors or ion channels.
• Voltage-dependent channels and ligand-dependent ion channels are involved in the action.

Furthermore, when doctors administer general anesthesia, there are three factors they need to evaluate :

1. How fast you get the anesthetic.
2. The duration of a specific dose.
3. The strength, depth and intensity of anesthesia.

Inhalants anesthetized

This type of anesthesia, called an inhalation anesthetic, is a substance that causes general anesthesia when inhaled through the airways. They are also not irritating drugs. In addition , they are usually used to maintain anesthesia along with intravenous inducers.

In fact, the potency of these drugs depends on the partial pressure or tension that the anesthetic reaches in the brain. In general, they estimate the partial pressure in the blood.

Some examples of general anesthetics that are inhaled are:

• Nitrogen protoxide
• Halotan
• Isoflurane
• Desfluran
• Sevoflurane

All of these are absorbed and pass through mucous membranes until they reach the brain. Thereafter, this absorption or diffusion usually occurs in three stages:

1. Pulmonary inhalation phase: Those that are less soluble will have a fast induction rate. Furthermore, those that are less soluble will cause the anesthesia to be slower.
2. Distribution in tissues.
3. Elimination.

Intravenous anesthetics

Furthermore, we have general anesthetics that doctors administer through the veins. The goal here is to induce and maintain anesthesia during surgery. These are drugs with hypnotic, analgesic, anti-anxiety and muscle relaxing properties.

Intravenous anesthesia promotes rapid induction of anesthesia. However, it is not as easy to control as an inhalation anesthetic. Healthcare professionals use the minimum infusion rate ( MIR ) to calculate the requirements for clinical anesthesia.

Here are some examples of intravenous general anesthesia:

• Sodium thiopental
• Propofol
• Etomidate
• Ketamine

All in all, all of these medications can cause a number of side effects. These include hypoventilation, apnea, muscle stiffness, blurred vision and mood swings, among others.

General anesthesia as a medical procedure

As we have seen, general anesthesia is a delicate process. Precisely because of this , only trained professionals should perform it.

They must be very careful with the medication and dosage. After all, improper use can end up seriously injuring the patient. Today we have a large selection of general anesthesia. Thus, they allow doctors to reduce the side effects and risks that often accompany them.