Skip to main content

Just Say NO to Nitrous!

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
You’re Wrong, I’m Right
  • 342 Accesses

Abstract

A 65-year-old man is having an open prostatectomy. His ejection fraction is 30 % due to previous myocardial infarctions. He has multiple coronary artery stents for his extensive coronary artery disease. In addition he is in rate-controlled atrial fibrillation treated with metoprolol and flecainamide. The patient is advised to have a neuraxial anesthetic but he declines. The risks and benefits of a general anesthetic are explained to the patient, and it is decided to give a small dose of sevoflurane with the addition of nitrous oxide and fentanyl to pick up the “slack.” The case is discussed in morning conference, and the majority of providers do not agree with the use of nitrous oxide.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Peyton PJ, Wu CY. Nitrous oxide-related postoperative nausea and vomiting depends on duration of exposure. Anesthesiology. 2014;120(5):1137–45.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Chan MT, Wan AC, Gin T, Leslie K, Myles PS. Chronic postsurgical pain after nitrous oxide anesthesia. Pain. 2011;152(11):2514–20.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Leslie K, Myles PS, Chan MT, Forbes A, Paech MJ, Peyton P, et al. Nitrous oxide and long-term morbidity and mortality in the ENIGMA trial. Anesth Analg. 2011;112(2):387–93.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Myles PS, Leslie K, Chan MT, Forbes A, Peyton PJ, Paech MJ, et al. ANZCA Trials Group for the ENIGMA-II investigators. The safety of addition of nitrous oxide to general anesthesia in at-risk patients having non-cardiac surgery (ENIGMA-II): a randomised, single-blind trial. Lancet. 2014;384(9952):1446–54.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Flippo TS, Holder WD Jr. Neurologic degeneration associated with nitrous oxide anesthesia in patients with vitamin B12 deficiency. Arch Surg. 1993;128(12):1391–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Corey S. Scher .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Scher, C.S. (2017). Just Say NO to Nitrous!. In: Scher, C., Clebone, A., Miller, S., Roccaforte, J., Capan, L. (eds) You’re Wrong, I’m Right. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43169-7_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43169-7_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-43167-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-43169-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics