Desflurane

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Desflurane

Desflurane (2,2,2-trifluoro-1-fluoroethyl-difluoromethyl ether) is a highly fluorinated methyl ethyl ether used for maintenance of general anaesthesia

General anaesthesia

In modern medical practice, general anaesthesia is a state of total unconsciousness resulting from general anaesthetic drugs. A variety of drugs are given to the patient that have different effects with the overall aim of ensuring unconsciousness, amnesia and analgesia....
. Together with sevoflurane

Sevoflurane

Sevoflurane , also called fluoromethyl hexafluoroisopropyl ether, is a sweet-smelling, non-flammable, highly fluorinated methyl isopropyl ether used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia....
, it is gradually replacing isoflurane

Isoflurane

Isoflurane is a halogenated ether used for inhalational anesthesia. Together with enflurane and halothane, it replaced the flammable Diethyl ether used in the pioneer days of surgery....
for human use, except in the third world where its high cost precludes its use. It has the most rapid onset and offset of the volatile anaesthetic

Volatile anaesthetic

The volatile anaesthetics are a class of general anaesthetic drugs. They share the property of being liquid at room temperature, but evaporating easily for administration by inhalation ....
drugs used for general anaesthesia

General anaesthesia

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Encyclopedia

Desflurane (2,2,2-trifluoro-1-fluoroethyl-difluoromethyl ether) is a highly fluorinated methyl ethyl ether used for maintenance of general anaesthesia

General anaesthesia

Sevoflurane

Isoflurane

Volatile anaesthetic

General anaesthesia

Tachycardia

The word tachycardia comes from the Greek words tachys and kardia .Tachycardia typically refers to a heartrate that exceeds the range of the normal resting heartrate, based upon age:...
and airway irritability when administered at concentrations greater than 10 vol%. Due to this airway irritability, Desflurane is infrequently used to induce anesthesia via inhalation techniques.

Though it vaporises very readily, it is a liquid at room temperature. Anaesthetic machine

Anaesthetic machine

The anaesthetic machine is used by anesthesiologists to support the administration of anaesthesia. The most common type of anaesthetic machine in use in the developed world is the continuous-flow anaesthetic machine, which is designed to provide an accurate and continuous supply of medical gases , mixed with an accurate concentration...
s are fitted with a specialized anaesthetic vaporiser

Anaesthetic vaporiser

An anaesthetic vaporiser is a device generally attached to an anaesthetic machine which delivers a given concentration of a volatile anaesthetic agent....
unit that heats liquid desflurane to a constant temperature. This enables the agent to be available at a constant vapor pressure, negating the effects that fluctuating ambient temperatures would otherwise have on its concentration imparted into the fresh gas flow of the anesthesia machine.

Desflurane, along with enflurane

Enflurane

Enflurane is a halogenated ether that was commonly used for inhalational anesthesia during the 1970s and 1980s. Developed by Ross Terrell in 1963, it was first used clinically in 1966....
and to a lesser extent isoflurane

Isoflurane

Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
absorbent in anesthesia circuits to produce detectable levels of carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide, with the chemical formula CO, is a colorless and odorless, tasteless, yet highly toxic gas. Its molecules consist of one carbon atom covalent bond to one oxygen atom....
through degradation of the anesthetic agent. Baralyme appears less prone to cause this degradation than soda lime

Soda lime

Soda lime is a mixture of chemicals, used in granular form in closed breathing environments, such as general anaesthesia, submarines, rebreathers and recompression chambers, to remove carbon dioxide from breathing gases to prevent CO%E2%82%82_retention and carbon dioxide poisoning....
. Dry conditions in the carbon dioxide absorbent are conducive to this phenomenon, such as those resulting from high fresh gas flows.

Physical properties

Boiling point Boiling point The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the environmental pressure surrounding the liquid.... :	23.5 °C	(at 1 atm Atmosphere (unit) The standard atmosphere is an international reference pressure defined as 101,325 Pascal and formerly used as unit of pressure . For practical purposes it has been replaced by the Bar which is 100,000 Pa.... )
Density Density The density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol of density is .... :	1.465 g/cm³	(at 20 °C)
Molecular Weight :	168
Vapor pressure Vapor pressure Vapor pressure , is the pressure of a vapor in Thermodynamic equilibrium with its non-vapor Phase s. All liquids and solids have a tendency to evaporate to a gaseous form, and all gases have a tendency to Condensation back into their original form .... :	88.5 kPa	672 mmHg	(at 20 °C)
	107 kPa	804 mmHg	(at 24 °C)
Blood:Gas partition coefficient :	0.42
Oil:Gas partition coefficient :	19
MAC Minimum alveolar concentration Minimum alveolar concentration or MAC is a concept used to compare the strengths of anaesthetic Volatile anaesthetic; in simple terms, it is defined as the concentration of the vapour in the lungs that is needed to prevent movement in 50% of subjects in response to surgical stimulus.... :	6 vol %

Book references

Eger, Eisenkraft, Weiskopf. The Pharmacology of Inhaled Anesthetics. 2003.
Rang, Dale, Ritter, Moore. Pharmacology 5th Edition. 2003.
Martin Bellgardt: Evaluation der Sedierungstiefe und der Aufwachzeiten frisch operierter Patienten mit neurophysiologischem Monitoring im Rahmen der Studie: Desfluran versus Propofol zur Sedierung beatmeter Patienten. Bochum, Dissertation, 2005 ()
Susanne Lohmann: Verträglichkeit, Nebenwirkungen und Hämodynamik der inhalativen Sedierung mit Desfluran im Rahmen der Studie: Desfluran versus Propofol zur Sedierung beatmeter Patienten. Bochum, Dissertation, 2006 ()