Summary

In study session II You have learnt

• The term intravenous anesthetic agents imply inducing anesthesia by drugs administered intravenously.
  
• Mechanism of action of barbiturates and non-barbiturates intravenous anesthetics is believed to be via CNS depression by modulation of GABA-mediated neurotransmission.
  
• Thiopentone, ketamine, propofol and etomidate are the commonest intravenous anesthetics
  
• Comparing to other anesthetic agents, ketamine increases arterial blood pressure, heart rate, and cardiac output.
  
• Benzodiazepines which commonly used in the perioperative period include diazepam, midazolam. Benzodiazepines are unique among the group of intravenous anesthetics in that their action can readily be terminated by administration of their selective antagonist flumazenil.
  
• Opioid is any naturally occurring, semi-synthetic or synthetic compounds that bind specifically to opioid receptors and share the properties of one or more of the naturally occurring endogenous opioids. The term opiate was originally used to refer to drugs derived from opium, including morphine, its semi synthetic derivatives, and codeine.
  
• Although opioids provide some degree of sedation, they are most effective at producing analgesia.
  
• Naloxone and its longer acting derivative naltrexone occupy opioid receptors, but they have essentially no intrinsic activity at these receptors.