Do Inhalational Anesthetic Agents Still Hold Their Place in Modern Anesthesia Practice?

Abstract

Inhalational anesthetic agents are chemi-cal substances that are administered into the body via lungs and distributed to or-gans and tissues by blood circulation.The main site of their action is the brain, but they also affect other parts of central nervous system. Volatile and intravenous anesthetics alike have nearly reached the characteristics of an ideal anesthetic, but at a first glance, the increase in use of in-travenous anesthetics could likely push out their volatile counterparts. Looking at the situation more thoroughly, positive side effects of volatile anesthetics that are not found in their intravenous counterparts, still give them a place in modern anesthe-sia practice. It is also possible to combine both techniques to reduce negative adverse effects, while making use of the positive ones.opioids, nitrogenous oxide, muscle relax-ants). Most often, we use them in so called “balanced anesthesia”. This way, safety is increased, while negative adverse effects are decreased.Recently, TCI (target-controlled anesthe-sia) with intravenous anesthetics is being used more and more. It would appear that intravenous anesthetics are going to com-pletely push out the volatile anesthetics that had been used a lot in the past. But is this really going to happen?