Methoxyflurane, a new anesthetic agent, was administered to one hundred surgical patients. The following are the results of clinical observation and liver function tests. (1) Methoxyflurane is easily administered with a relatively simple vaporizer such as Heidbrink No.8 ether vaporizer in semi-closed system. (2) Blood pressure, pulse rate and cardiac rhythm are remarkably stable if deep anesthesia is avoided. (3) Excellent muscle relaxation is produced at intermediate levels of anesthesia without producing apnea. To avoid overdose it is recommended, however, to use muscle relaxants for operations which require highest degree of muscle relaxation such as upper abdominal procedures. (4) Assisted respirstion is advocated since methoxyflurane tends to depress respiration. (5) Depth of anesthesia is easily controlled with growing experience so that overdose can be avoided. (6) Analgesia extends into the recovery phase, minimizing the need for narcotics in the immediate postoperative period. (7) lnduction of and recovery from anesthesia is relatively prolonged. However, nausea, vomiting or delirium is less frequent than after ether anesthesia. (8) Hepatotoxicity, as determined by bromsulphalein, retention is of the same magnitude as that determined for diethyl ether.
Analgesia ; Anesthesia ; Apnea ; Blood Pressure ; Delirium ; Ether ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Liver Function Tests ; Methoxyflurane* ; Muscle Relaxation ; Narcotics ; Nausea ; Nebulizers and Vaporizers ; Postoperative Period ; Respiration ; Sulfobromophthalein ; Vomiting