The vascular effects and duration of action of two ester-linked local anaesthetics, procaine and amethocaine, and four amide-linked local anaesthetics, cinchocaine, lignocaine, mepivacaine and prilocaine, were investigated in 10 volunteers by intradermal injection using a double-blind technique. Procaine and amethocaine produced marked vasodilatation; weal formation was observed at 80% of the a...

Letters of inquiry from several surgeons in India, who had heard of our use of this method, have led to this report. During the last twelve months, about 1,400 operations have been performed in the Mission Hospital. The anaesthetics employed include :? chloroform, about 500 cases; ether, by in-, halation, about 300 ; local anaesthetics, about 300; intraspinal injection, about J 5 ; and ether, b...

Soon after the introduction of chloroquency of the pulse whilst it is being form I administered it to a gentleman, inhaled, it is occasionally followed by a aged about 55, whilst a fatty tumour was feeling of faintness, especially if the removed from the nape of the neck. It did patient remains in the sitting posture. At not turn out as fatty tumours usually do, one period in the history of med...

The search for the mechanisms of anaesthesia has resulted in an overwhelming multitude of cellular and subcellular sites identi®ed as potential targets of anaesthetic action. Attempts to de®ne a unitary mechanism of action for the diverse types of chemicals with anaesthetic potency have failed, and it is now recognized that agent-speci®c effects on de®ned neuronal sites, including the constitue...

Almost all areas of human activity have the potential to influence climate. The administration of inhalation anaesthetics is one such activity. However, since the first dedicated study in 1989 of the possible role of halogenated anaesthetics, they have received only sporadic interest. Two recent papers, published in this issue of the British Journal of Anaesthesia and in Anesthesia and Analgesi...

Local anaesthetic administration is a common clinical practice not only in the operating theatres, but also in other clinical settings. Relevant monitoring and resuscitation facilities in certain clinical settings outside the operation rooms may not be optimal. Despite the low incidence of severe complications associated with administration of local anaesthetics, their safe use is very importan...