Abstract
The primary aim of anesthesia is the prevention of pain perception (analgesia), intraoperative awareness (hypnosis), and postoperative recall (amnesia) (anesthetic trade). Analgesia would be a component of the anesthetic state. Pain is the conscious perception of a noxious stimulus and analgesia is the abolished perception of pain in an otherwise conscious patient. During general anesthesia pain can not be experienced, since the patient is unconscious. However, there is no certainty that during anesthesia a blockade of the nociceptive system is reliably provided in all circumstances. The impact of insufficient blockade of nociceptive pathways during anesthesia on mental status and implicit memory are largely unknown. Therefore, the anesthetic trade should consist of hypnosis, amnesia and antinociception.
Translated title of the contribution | Does anesthesia always involve analgesia? |
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Original language | German |
Pages (from-to) | 1459-1453 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Schweizerische Rundschau fur Medizin Praxis = Revue suisse de medecine Praxis |
Volume | 86 |
Issue number | 40 |
State | Published - 1 Oct 1997 |