Electro anesthesia

Electro anesthesia or electronic anesthesia refers to a method of inducing anesthesia (general anesthesia) using only electricity.

It was an experimental procedure that was mainly researched between 1950 and 1980 in the hope of replacing “chemical” anesthesia in operations. In spite of extensive trials, however, it was not possible to develop a method that produced a sufficient depth of anesthesia for entry into clinical practice.

At slaughter animals and edible fish (in freshwater ), a similar procedure called "is still electrical stunning " applied, the loss of consciousness before slaughter is

history

A first form of electro anesthesia was described as early as 46 AD by Scribonius Largus, personal physician to the Roman emperor Claudius , who used electric shocks from electric fish to suppress pain. But it was not until 1902 that the French Leduc carried out experiments with rhythmically interrupted direct current on dogs and also on himself, and in doing so produced anesthesia. Thorough examinations of electro anesthesia took place after 1950, especially in the USSR, but also in France, the USA and Austria, where two large international conferences on electro anesthesia were held in Graz in 1965 and 1969. However, when, despite the extensive research, it was not possible to develop a simple and safe method that produced sufficiently deep anesthesia without side effects, research was largely abandoned towards the end of the 1970s. A method that is still used today and has its roots in research on electro anesthesia is cranial electrical stimulation . However, its effectiveness is controversial.

Procedure

Alternating current with an amplitude of a few tens of milliamperes is conducted through two or more electrodes attached to the patient's head . Currents with a frequency of approximately 100 Hertz have proven to be the most effective . These can still be modulated with a very high frequency of over 100 kilohertz, this modulation less increasing the effectiveness than reducing the risk of burns under the electrodes.

Electrical anesthesia problems

Electro anesthesia faced various problems. If the current is too high, the patient may experience severe cramps and histological damage to the brain is possible. On the other hand, if the current is too low, the patient may wake up unexpectedly or the depth of anesthesia is too low, so that the patient is conscious and feels pain during the operation without being able to communicate. It can also cause burns under the electrodes.

literature

• Limoge, A., An Introduction to Electroanesthesia , University Park Press, Baltimore, 1975
• Limoge, A., Robert, C., and Stanley, TH, Transcutaneous cranial electrical stimulation (TCES): A review , 1998, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 23, pp. 529-538, 1999
• Sances, A., jr., And Larson, SJ, Electroanesthesia - Biomedical and Biophysical Studies , Academic Press, 1975

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Electronic anesthesia - Lexicon of Neuroscience. Retrieved August 4, 2016 . 
2. ^ Benno Kunz: Lexicon of food technology . Springer-Verlag, 2013, ISBN 978-3-642-48054-6 ( google.com [accessed on August 4, 2016]).
3. ↑ Wolf Erhardt, Petra Kölle, Julia Henke, Jörg Haberstroh, Christine Baumgartner: Anesthesia and analgesia in small and domestic animals: with exotic animals, laboratory animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish . Schattauer Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-7945-2781-6 ( google.at [accessed on August 4, 2016]).
4. ↑ Study on the behavior of slaughter pigs after electrical stunning. Retrieved August 4, 2016 . 

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