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Inhalation Anaesthesia Today and Tomorrow pp 97–108Cite as

Influence of Inhalation Anaesthetics on the Autonomic Nervous System

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Abstract

Inhalation anaesthesia and various stressful events associated with surgery may severely alter the function of the autonomic nervous system. Almost all investigations of the influence of inhalation anaesthetics on autonomic nervous activity deal with the effects of these drugs on the sympatho-adrenal system, and on the baroreceptors which are the sensory organs for the afferent limb of baroreceptor reflexes. This predominant interest in the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system is due to the attempts to relate the main side-effects of these drugs on the cardiovascular system to changes in autonomic nervous activity. Thus hypo- or hypertensive reactions may occur during inhalation anaesthesia; in this connection it is of interest that changes in blood-pressure due to alterations of arteriolar resistance can be related to an increase or decrease in sympatho-adrenal activity; by contrast, cholinergic impulses are virtually devoid of physiological significance in this respect. Furthermore, inhalation anaesthetics are known to cause a negative inotropic effect; again, the force of contraction of the cardiac ventricles is effectively controlled by the sympathetic but not by the parasympathetic nervous system. The present report will therefore concentrate on the effects of inhalation anaesthetics on the sympatho-adrenal system and on the baroreceptor reflexes. However, it should be pointed out that a reduction of the sympathetic tone causes a predominance of parasympathetic nervous activity. In this situation the administration of atropine is absolutely necessary to avoid serious dysfunction of various organ systems.

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Authors
  1. M. Göthert
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  1. Institut für Anaesthesiologie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Klinikum Großhadern, Marchioninistraße 15, D-8000, München 70, Federal Republic of Germany

    K. Peter  & F. Jesch  & 

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© 1982 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Göthert, M. (1982). Influence of Inhalation Anaesthetics on the Autonomic Nervous System. In: Peter, K., Jesch, F. (eds) Inhalation Anaesthesia Today and Tomorrow. Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine / Anaesthesiologie und Intensivmedizin. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-39944-6_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-39944-6_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-38979-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-39944-6

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