BACKGROUND Postoperative nausea and vomiting are important causes of morbidity after general anesthesia. Nitrous oxide has been implicated as an emetogenic agent in many studies. However, several other trials have failed to sustain this claim. The authors tried to resolve this issue through a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials comparing the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomit...

The Sprague-Dawley rat was used to demonstrate the effect of nitrous oxide, with and without folinic pretreatment, on reproductive indices and fetal development. One of the objectives of the investigation was to test the hypothesis that at least some of the teratogenic effect of nitrous oxide is related to interference with folate metabolism. Groups of animals were exposed to 70-75% nitrous oxi...

BACKGROUND Evidence on the analgesic effectiveness of nitrous oxide for labor pain is limited. Even fewer studies have looked at patient satisfaction. Although nitrous oxide appears less effective than neuraxial analgesia, it is unclear whether labor analgesic effectiveness is the most important factor in patient satisfaction. We sought to compare the relationship between analgesic effectivenes...

The effects of the withdrawal of nitrous oxide from the inspired gas mixture were studied in 10 spontaneously breathing children during nitrous oxide-halothane anaesthesia, before and during surgery, using a computerized system for the measurement, recording and analysis of data. Before surgery the decline in the alveolar nitrous oxide concentration was associated with an increase in minute ven...

BACKGROUND Endothelial function is impaired with hyperhomocysteinemia. Plasma homocysteine is increased by nitrous oxide anesthesia. The current study was designed to determine whether endothelial function is impaired after surgery and whether this is made worse by exposure to nitrous oxide. METHODS The authors studied 59 patients with cardiovascular disease undergoing noncardiac surgery. Pat...

The driving skills of 10 dental students were evaluated on three occasions on a driving simulator after exposure to air and 50% and 70% nitrous oxide in oxygen. Errors increased after exposure to nitrous oxide and were statistically significant during the middle of the test period. Driving after short exposure to nitrous oxide appears inadvisable.

Although rare, tympanic membrane rupture during general anesthesia with nitrous oxide has been reported previously in the literature. Nitrous oxide administration and the effects on closed body cavities will be reviewed. Key factors in patient assessment which can determine safe use of nitrous oxide in the clinical setting will also be discussed.

The concentrations of nitrous oxide were determined at various positions in four dental surgeries in which nitrous oxide sedation was used without scavenging. Contamination was present in all the surgeries, the greatest concentration being recorded at the dentist's nose and the least in the peripheral air. The reception area adjoining the surgeries was found also to be contaminated by nitrous o...

We describe a case of myeloneuropathy resulting from nitrous oxide abuse. MR imaging of the spine revealed symmetric abnormal signal in the posterior columns of the cervical cord. Myeloneuropathy is caused by inactivation of vitamin B12 by nitrous oxide. This syndrome can also be seen in patients with borderline vitamin B12 deficiency who have recently been anesthetized with nitrous oxide.