OVERVIEW Print Section Listen Kidneys perform a number of essential physiologic functions, including water management, electrolyte homeostasis, acid–base balance, and several neurohumoral and hormonal functions. Anesthesiologists are often called upon…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen For anesthesiologists, a working knowledge of antiepileptic mechanisms of action is helpful when caring for patients with known or suspected seizure disorders. This chapter provides a…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Diabetes is a condition of elevated blood glucose caused by a number of factors and affects approximately 8% of the population.1 There are 2 types: type…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Anticoagulants are widely used in the perioperative period. The anesthesia consultant must have an understanding of their pharmacology and the implications of their use in a…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is the most common complication associated with anesthesia and surgery, occurring in approximately one-third of all patients and up to 70%…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Vasoactive agents were recognized in 1895 by H.D. Rollerston, when he described a suprarenal extract as a “powerful vascular tonic.”1 Today, these drugs have an important…
HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT Print Section Listen Neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) were first “discovered” by the native Indian populations of South America and were used for hunting game. They called their…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen In 1516, Peter Martyr D’Anghera (1457–1526) described in his book, De Orbo Novo (The New World) the effects of poisoned arrows (proven later to contain crude…
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Perioperative pain control remains one of the primary concerns for surgical patients, surgeons, and anesthesiologists. Traditionally, opiates have been the medications used for the treatment of…
HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT Print Section Listen The discovery of inhalation anesthetics has a colorful history and began as early as the late 1700s with nitrous oxide. One initial use was…
