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The Present Status of Nitrous Oxide in Clinical Anaesthesia

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Anaesthesia — Innovations in Management

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Abstract

Nitrous oxide has been used in clinical anaesthesia for more than a century. Supplementary drugs have usually been added because of the limited central nervous system depressant effects of 70% nitrous oxide (Hornbein et al. 1982) and the oxygen requirements of some patients (Nunn 1969). Altitude augments these limitations (James et al. 1982). In 1978 our interest in reducing operating-room contamination with nitrous oxide led us to obtain experience with closed-circuit or low fresh gas flow techniques and to re-examine our routine use of nitrous oxide for almost every patient who reached the operating-room suite. This reassessment entailed a review of contra-indications to the drug, considering the evidence for our historical belief in certain effects of the drug, and concluding whether alternative drug combinations might be more appropriate.

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Authors
  1. J. W. R. McIntyre
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sportkrankenhaus Hellersen, Lüdenscheid, Federal Republic of Germany

    Roland Droh  & Ralph Spintge  & 

  2. Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Wilhelm Erdmann

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© 1985 Springer-Verlag Berlin, Heidelberg

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McIntyre, J.W.R. (1985). The Present Status of Nitrous Oxide in Clinical Anaesthesia. In: Droh, R., Erdmann, W., Spintge, R. (eds) Anaesthesia — Innovations in Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82392-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82392-3_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-13961-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-82392-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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