ELECTRICAL ANESTHESIA.
Abstract
It was found that painful induction, tissue injury, and 'fading' of anesthesia (disappearance of anesthesia despite the continuing flow of current which produced the anesthesia) were the chief problems. Most of the deleterious effects of electroanesthesia were consequent to the techniques of administration of current, not to the current per se. Tissue injury could be prevented by using bidirectional square pulse current. Repetition rates of 15,000 to 20,000 pulses per second were relatively painless, but inefficient in electroanesthesia production. Two streams of current were applied at the rate of the difference between the two applied frequencies and this rate was 100 to 1,000 times per second. Current was applied with little discomfort and electrical change was produced in the brain at a low repetition rate which was found to be efficient in electroanesthesia production. Fading was found to be controllable simply by reducing frequency just as the fading began. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1968
- Accession Number
- AD0672080
Entities
People
- Robert H. Smith
Organizations
- University of California, San Francisco