Treatment modifications to consider if there are concerns regarding vasoconstrictors

- Monitor blood pressure and heart rate preoperatively

- Minimize administration of epinephrine or levonordefrin

- Monitor blood pressure and heart rate 5 min after injection

- May re-administer epinephrine or levonordefrin if blood pressure and heart rate are stable

- Continue to monitor as required

- Consider limiting epinephrine to 0.04 mg, levonordefrin to 0.2 mg

- Avoid epinephrine 1:50,000

- Never use epinephrine-impregnated retraction cord

Inhalational Anesthetics

The depth of general anesthesia is directly proportional to the partial pressure of the anesthetic agent in the brain. These agents enter the body through the lungs, dissolve in alveolar blood and are transported to the brain and other tissues.

A. Rate of induction and rate of recovery from anesthesia:

1. The more soluble the agent is in blood, the more drug it takes to saturate the blood and the more time it takes to raise the partial pressure and the depth of anesthesia.

2. The less soluble the agent is in blood, the less drug it takes to saturate the blood and the less time it takes to raise the partial pressure and depth of anesthesia.

B. MAC (minimum alveolar concentration)

The MAC is the concentration of the anesthetic agent that represents the ED₅₀ for these agents. It is the alveolar concentration in which 50% of the patients will respond to a surgical incision.

The lower the MAC the more potent the general anesthetic agent.

C. Inhalation Anesthetic Agents 

• Nitrous Oxide
• Ether
• Halothane
• Enflurane
• Isoflurane

Stimulants: 

Amphetamines: amphetamine is a substrate of serotonin and NE uptake transporters so in cytoplasm, it competes for transport into storage vesicles → ↑ [ ] in cytoplasm then excess amines bind to membrane transporter and are transported out of cell

Drugs: 
a.    Dextroamphetamine: psychomotor stimulant (↓ fatigue), short-term weight loss, prevents narcolepsy
b.    Methylphenidate (Ritalin): prevents narcolepsy, treatment for ADD and ADHD
c.    Methamphetamine: psychomotor stimulant, abused widely (cheap, easy to make)

Side effects: 
a.    CNS: euphoria, anxiety, agitation, delirium, paranoia, panic, suicidal/homicidal impulses, psychoses, tolerance (develops rapidly to most CNS effects), physical dependence (not clinically relevant)
b.    CV: headache, chills, arrhythmias and HTN (may be fatal)

Carbapenems: Broadest spectrum of beta-lactam antibiotics.

imipenem with cilastatin

meropenem

ertapenem

Monobactams: Unlike other beta-lactams, there is no fused ring attached to beta-lactam nucleus. Thus, there is less probability of cross-sensitivity reactions.

aztreonam

Beta-lactamase Inhibitors No antimicrobial activity. Their sole purpose is to prevent the inactivation of beta-lactam antibiotics by beta-lactamases, and as such, they are co-administered with beta-lactam antibiotics.

clavulanic acid

tazobactam

sulbactam

Anticonvulsant Drugs

A.    Anticonvulsants: drugs to control seizures or convulsions in susceptible people

B.    Seizures: abnormal neuronal discharges in the nervous system produced by focal or generalized brain disturbances

Manifestations: depend on location of seizure activity (motor cortex → motor convulsions, sensory cortex → abnormal sensations, temporal cortex → emotional disturbances)

Causes: many brain disorders such as head injury (glial scars, pH changes), anoxia (changes in pH or CSF pressure), infections (tissue damage, high T), drug withdrawal (barbiturates, ethanol, etc.), epilepsy (chronic state with repeated seizures)

C.    Epilepsy: most common chronic seizure disorder, characterized by recurrent seizures of a particular pattern,  many types (depending on location of dysfunction)

Characteristics: chronic CNS disorders (years to decades), involve sudden and transitory seizures (abnormal motor, autonomic, sensory, emotional, or cognitive function and abnormal EEG activity)

Etiology: hyperexcitable neurons; often originate at a site of damage (epileptogenic focus), often found at scar tissue from tumors, strokes, or trauma; abnormal discharge spreads to normal brain regions = seizure

Idiopathic (70%; may have genetic abnormalities) and symptomatic epilepsy (30%; obvious CNS trauma, neoplasm, infection, developmental abnormalities or drugs)

Neuropathophysiology: anticonvulsants act at each stage but most drugs not effective for all types of epilepsy (need specific drugs for specific types)

Seizure mechanism: enhanced excitation (glutamate) or ↓ inhibition (GABA) of epileptic focus → fire more quickly → ↑ release of K and glutamate → ↑ depolarization of surrounding neurons (=neuronal synchronization) → propagation (normal neurons activated)

Sufentanil

• A synthetic opioid related to fentanyl.
• About 7 times more potent than fentanyl.
• Has a slightly more rapid onset of action than fentanyl.