الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Inhalational anaesthesia is surely the kind of anaesthesia which enabled modern surgery to develop, mainly in the fields of intrathoracic, cardiac and organ transplantation. Substantial advances have occurred in the 150 year history of inhaled anaesthesia. The development of the modern inhaled anaesthetics mainly halothane, enflurane, isoflurane, sevoflurane and desfiurane resolved most of the problems of flammability, toxicity, and dysrythmias associated with chloroform, cyclopropane and diethyl ether. However, the ideal anaesthetic has not been found yet. Modern inhalation anaesthetics are a dramatic improvement on earlier agents, but they are still associated with a number of undesirable physiological and toxicological side effects (Gandolfi et al., 1990). Hepatotoxicity, though rare, has been related to the use of halogenated anaesthetics. Halothane is the agent most repeatedly associated with suspected anaesthesia-related liver damage, although all halogenated hydrocarbons have occasionally come under suspicion as possible hepatotoxins. Extreme controversy exists as to whether liver damage results from anaesthesia-induced toxicity or from other factors such as infectious hepatitis or potentially hepatotoxic medications (Sindelar et al., 1982). |