A NEW ANÆSTHETIC

Evening Star, Issue 15481, 1 May 1914, Page 2

A NEW ANÆSTHETIC

PRfflENftrnM HEAjfclT FA&tfitE IN* OPERATIONS. •Interesting eiderinienti 'with a new ariSSs'thetic, wticfi it, is believed may prove of great service, are at present being conducted on animals in a Cambridge laboratory. The anaesthetic is a ', substance which has for a considerable time been familiar to medical men and , chemists under the name of urethane. '. This drug, which is obtained by com- • bining urea with ale-Viol, is admiriI istered hypodermically, like morphia, | with & syringe. A short time after the | injection has been made the animal becomes drowsy and soon passes into a state of very deep unconsciousness. Insensibility to pain is complete, and any .operation may be carried out with peri feet security. The animal remains" in , this insensible state for some i hours, i and then gradually regains ponsciousI ness. The great advantage of urethane i is said to be the fact that heart failure •never occurs when it is properly used. Should the drug be given in an overHose death will, of course, take place, but that is due primarily to failure or breathing. The importance .of this is not clear until under chloroform occur as the result of heart failure. When breathing stops, fts it frequently does during the administration of an inhaled anssstnetic, it Cfeti usually be started again by artificial respiration > always provided that the heart is still beating. The assurance that in all cases of overdose the breathing would be . affected before the - not after would be an immense comfort to the surgeon and amesthetici Another advantage of the new anaesthetic is the fact that its administration is not attended by the choking sensation experienced with ether and ehloroMrrh, which are given under a mask* Moreover, after" urethane sickness dde'S hot take place. Thus the ever-present danger of sfitohes giving way and ligatures slipping off during the process of retching is avoided. On the other hand, a very prolonged period of insensibility— about six hoi M—follows tKe administration of uretkane. It has nob, so far, been found possible to shorten this time. Whether the .advantages will outweigh this undoubted disadvantage remains to be seen. In the meantime, says the ' Times,' the anesthetic is proving a, great boon to those carrying out experimental operations on animals.