Anesthetics News and Research

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Communications down in anesthetized brain

Two studies indicate that inhaled anesthetics disrupt communication between distant cortical areas before directly activating sleep-inducing neuronal circuitry.

8 Nov 2012

Study shows how local anesthetics can improve motor skills of patients after stroke

Painkilling drugs that make many therapies possible are a blessing for patients. Thanks to modern anesthetics, not only can surgical operations be conducted without causing pain, they are also used for various diagnostic procedures. Anesthetics can be very useful in therapies for stroke patients, as psychologists and physicians of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) and the University Hospital Jena are now able to prove.

6 Nov 2012

Researchers find that children's brains are more affected by inhaled anesthetic

Stony Brook University School of Medicine researchers have found that children's brains are more affected by an inhaled anesthetic than an intravenous anesthetic with increased levels of brain lactate.

29 Oct 2012

Sevoflurane, propofol produce different metabolic patterns in brains of unconscious children

Two commonly used anesthetics produce different metabolic patterns in the brains of unconscious children, according to a study from the November issue of a Anesthesiology.

26 Oct 2012

Maintain dogs’ presurgery warmth to avoid hypothermia

Hypothermia is common in dogs after undergoing surgery under anesthetic, especially for diagnostic procedures and when the animal is in poor condition, research indicates.

17 Oct 2012

Anesthetic-loaded liposomes can delay onset of neuropathic pain

Using tiny spheres filled with an anesthetic derived from a shellfish toxin, researchers at Boston Children's Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a way to delay the rise of neuropathic pain, a chronic form of pain that arises from flawed signals transmitted by damaged nerves.

10 Oct 2012

Anesthetics and protein interactions: an interview with José A. Fernández

For a long time there was a controversy about how anesthetics work. The large number of molecules that have anesthetic properties (from benzodiazepines to nitrous oxide) and their very different structures...

8 Oct 2012

Improved small animal Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanners introduced by IntelLiDrives

In research into human diseases and the search for potential treatments, small animal models play an important role in bridging the gap between in vitro and in vivo studies. IntelLiDrive is at the forefront of small animal PET tomography scanner design.

5 Oct 2012

Orexin-A hormone also affects emergence after anesthesia

A neuropeptide hormone called orexin-A—which plays an important role in regulating the normal sleep-wake cycle—also affects emergence (waking up) after anesthesia, reports an experimental study in the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS).

26 Sep 2012

Anesthetics and proteins: understanding the interactions

Spanish scientists at the University of the Basque Region and the University of La Rioja have combined mass-resolved electronic spectroscopy and ab initio calculations to model the interactions of anesthetics with proteins.

24 Sep 2012

Worldwide improvements in survival rates after general anesthetic

Survival after a general anaesthetic and within 48 hours of surgery has greatly improved worldwide over the past 50 years, according to the second Article in The Lancet surgery-themed issue.

21 Sep 2012

Annovation Biopharma to develop novel anesthetics with $8M Series A financing

Annovation Biopharma, a biotechnology company focused on creating more effective, safer therapies for anesthesia and critical care, has raised $8M in a Series A financing led by Atlas Venture, Partners Innovation Fund, and new strategic investor The Medicines Company.

10 Sep 2012

NIH funded researchers identify and explore different aspects of anesthesia

Anesthesia helps many of us during our lives, whether we need a local painkiller at the dentist, numbing eye drops for laser vision correction or general anesthesia for major surgery. But even though anesthetics have been used in many procedures for more than 150 years, doctors and scientists still don't know exactly how these medicines work in the body.

5 Sep 2012

National approach can help manage drug shortages in Canada

Canada needs a national approach to managing its supply of pharmaceutical drugs, starting with a mandatory reporting system for drug shortages, argues an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) and CPJ (Canadian Pharmacists Journal).

21 Aug 2012

Patients with plantar fasciitis experience less pain and improved QOL after standard radiation therapy

Patients with plantar fasciitis (painful bone heel spur) experience significantly less pain and improved quality of life following a standard dose of external beam radiation therapy, a common cancer treatment similar to receiving an X-ray, according to a randomized, cooperative group study that was published online July 25, 2012, in the International Journal of Radiation, Oncology, Biology, Physics (Red Journal), the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO).

30 Jul 2012

AAQ chemical temporarily restores vision in blind mice

A team of University of California, Berkeley, scientists in collaboration with researchers at the University of Munich and University of Washington in Seattle has discovered a chemical that temporarily restores some vision to blind mice, and is working on an improved compound that may someday allow people with degenerative blindness to see again.

26 Jul 2012

IARS announces recipient of 2012 Frontiers in Anesthesia Research Award

The International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) formally announced Ansgar Brambrink, MD, PhD of Oregon Health & Science University as the recipient of its 2012 Frontiers in Anesthesia Research Award today - the largest single grant offered by the Society in its 90 year history.

29 Jun 2012

SmartTots announces recipients of inaugural round of research grants

SmartTots announced Robert Block, PhD and Caleb Ing, MD as the recipients of its inaugural round of research grants today. The research grants are intended to support investigations into the existence of a clinical signal suggesting poor neurocognitive outcomes as the result of early exposure to anesthesia. Drs. Block and Ing will be conducting separate studies both centered around determining the effects of anesthetics on early brain development. Both recipients will receive $100,000 to fund their studies.

26 Jun 2012

State roundup: Retiree health costs soaring; Calif.'s duplicate surgical payments; Georgia's AIDS drug waiting list shrinks

Recession-plagued states diverted scarce money away from pensions to pay for more immediate concerns, leaving a $757 billion hole in the retirement funds covering millions of public employees, according to a study released Monday. … States also faced a $627 billion shortfall in health care services for retirees. Essentially, for every $1 they'll eventually have to pay out in health care, states had set aside only 5 cents.

20 Jun 2012

Advances in robotic spine surgery

1. Please could you give a brief outline of robotic spine surgery and its recent history? Robotic spine surgery is very new, less than 10 years old. There are only 10 hospitals in the US offering it and we are the second hospital in California to offer this technology.

15 Jun 2012