Anesthetic

Not to be confused with aesthetics or analgesic.
"Anesthetics" redirects here. For the practice of using anesthetic drugs and anesthesia, see Anesthesiology.
This article is about anesthetics, drugs that provide anesthesia. For the 2019 album by Mark Morton, see Anesthetic (album).

Leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylum novogranatense var. Novogranatense), from which cocaine, a naturally occurring local anesthetic, is derived.[1][2]

An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two broad classes: general anesthetics, which result in a reversible loss of consciousness, and local anesthetics, which cause a reversible loss of sensation for a limited region of the body without necessarily affecting consciousness.[3][4]

A wide variety of drugs are used in modern anesthetic practice. Many are rarely used outside anesthesiology, but others are used commonly in various fields of healthcare. Combinations of anesthetics are sometimes used for their synergistic and additive therapeutic effects. Adverse effects, however, may also be increased.[5] Anesthetics are distinct from analgesics, which block only sensation of painful stimuli.[6][4] Analgesics are typically used in conjunction with anesthetics to control pre-, intra-, and postoperative pain.[4]

  1. ^ Goldberg, MF (1984). "Cocaine: The First Local Anesthetic and the'Third Scourge of Humanity': A Centennial Melodrama". Archives of Ophthalmology. 102 (10): 1443–1447. doi:10.1001/archopht.1984.01040031163009. PMID 6385930 – via jamanetwork.com.
  2. ^ Karch, SB (1998). A brief history of cocaine. CRC press.
  3. ^ Wollweber, Hartmund (2000). "Anesthetics, General". Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH. doi:10.1002/14356007.a02_289. ISBN 978-3527306732.
  4. ^ a b c Butterworth, John; Mackey, David; Wasnick, John (2013). Morgan & Mikhail's Clinical Anesthesiology (5th ed.). McGraw Hill Education. ISBN 978-0-07-171405-1.
  5. ^ Hendrickx, JF.; Eger, EI.; Sonner, JM.; Shafer, SL. (August 2008). "Is synergy the rule? A review of anesthetic interactions producing hypnosis and immobility". Anesth Analg. 107 (2): 494–506. doi:10.1213/ane.0b013e31817b859e. PMID 18633028. S2CID 8125002.
  6. ^ "Reducing Animals' Pain and Distress | National Agricultural Library". www.nal.usda.gov. 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2023.