Fluorinated Anesthetics-How They Effect Your Organs

When thinking of fluorinated anesthetics, it is helpful to take the phrase apart initially and define what each one actually means. First of all, an anesthetic causes the loss of the ability to feel or sense and the person can either be unconscious or semi conscious. This is a boon while performing surgery because, of course, the patient can be pain free during the experience. It is also natural for the patient to experience anxiety and nervousness that is associated with undergoing any operation at all. An anesthetic can also aid in controlling the body's reaction to all of these to help the patient relax before going into the operating room. Depending on the type of surgery to be performed, an anesthetic can be what is called "general" or "local/regional". A general anesthetic is one when the patient is totally unconscious during the procedure. This is controlled by a doctor known as an anesthesiologist and is administered intravenously, through inhaling gases or a combination of both. A local or regional anesthetic is one that is administered through the vein or the spine (also known as an epidural). Both of these types of agents allow the skills of the surgeons to help save lives thousands of times over on a daily basis.

The other part of the term fluorinated anesthetics is a bit more complicated to explain. Fluorinated means that the manufacturing of the anesthetic has its roots in fluorine, a pale yellow, gaseous, non-metallic element that is pungent, poisonous, corrosive and highly reactive. That doesn't necessarily sound like something we would want to put into our bodies, does it? However, fluorine is not used in anesthetics in its natural state, of course; rather the fluorine atoms are used in combination with other compounds to help reduce the flammability of such commonly used anesthetics such as halothane, isoflurane, sevoflurane and methoxyflurane. Before fluorinated anesthetics were developed, the types of anesthetics used, such as diethyl ether and cyclopropane, were dangerously flammable.

Now that we are a bit more familiar with what a fluorinated anesthetic is, let's see what, if any, effect using this type of anesthetic could have on the patient's organs. One of the main arguments for the acceptance of using fluorinated anesthetics was the belief that the inhaled route of administration was thought to lead to direct absorption into the patient's bloodstream and thus not be metabolized. It has been brought to light, though, that this fact is no longer believed. Studies have shown that the inhaled fluorinated anesthetics do indeed undergo metabolism and in some instances are transformed into toxic counterparts. When this type of change occurs in the patient's body, it is being propelled by certain factors such as age, genetics, disease and perhaps drug interaction potentials.

There have been studies conducted with the fluorinated anesthetic known as Methoxyflurane that showed that it should be used with great caution in patients with already established kidney disease. Methoxyflurane has a propensity to have a toxic effect on the liver and one that is already undergoing treatment for disease makes these effects highly more probable. In a case such as this, methoxyflurane should only be used in combination with another anesthetic agent. If administered alone, the effect it could have on the liver would not be reversible. This holds particularly true for patients that are morbidly obese or elderly. These studies also showed that: -If a patient had already shown signs of liver damage from a previous experience with methoxyflurane it would not be recommended that it be used again, even in a small dose combined with another drug:

-If a patient is diabetic, they could be at greater risk of experiencing kidney problems with the use of methoxyflurane
-Daily use of methoxyflurane is not advised because of its risk of damaging kidneys
-It is important to recognize when a patient is being treated with barbiturates because the use of methoxyflurane in combination with this could result in increased fluoride levels in the body
-Studies showed that the use of adrenaline or nor-adrenaline should not be used or done so with extreme caution when combining with methoxyflurane
-Great care should be used with patients who are susceptible to malignant hypothermia
-Since the elderly are more susceptible to drops in blood pressure during surgeries and also reduced heart rate, methoxyflurane should be administered with great care

With the questions that have arisen in the past few years regarding the safety of using fluorinated anesthetics, it would be wise for a person who is going to be undergoing surgery to be frank with their doctors about their concerns regarding the type of anesthetic to be used and how it will be administered. Setting up an appointment with the attending anesthesiologist is a good idea so he/she may also be able to ask questions of you regarding your health history and therefore be able to make the best decision about the type of anesthetic that is safe for you.

Craig Elliott is a writer for halocarbon.com. Halocarbon.com is a leading provider of Fluorochemicals | Anesthetics