A practical guide to the administration of anaesthetics / by R.J. Probyn-Williams.

  • Probyn-Williams, R. J.
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A practical guide to the administration of anaesthetics / by R.J. Probyn-Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    at first, and the strength very gradually increased, the patient should pass into a state of unconsciousness without being aware of any unpleasant taste or smell, even when ether alone is the anaesthetic employed. The feelings which the patient] experiences during the first stage of any anaesthesia are much the same. There is a general feeling of a pleasant sleepiness accompanied by feelings of pricking, or tingling in the limbs, with a gradually increasing disinclination to make any muscular movement. As the circulation becomes more stimulated and vigorous, noises and buzzing sounds are heard, and occasionally flashes of light are noticed. During this period any sounds heard by the patient will often be intensified, and it is important that the room should be as quiet as possible. The ordinary conversation of bystanders is heard for some time longer than they think, and the patient will often be troubled by remarks which he was not intended to hear. During this stage all attempts at the arrangement of the clothes of the patient, or any surgical examination, should be discouraged, as they will probably be considered as the beginnings of the actual operation, and fear alone has produced a fatal result during the early periods of anaesthesia. The patient should not be held restrained in any way during the admini- stration, but assistants should be prepared to prevent his doing any damage to himself or his surroundings. During the first stage the pulse becomes quickened and the respirations deeper and faster, unless of course the patient voluntarily holds his breath. The pupils will generally be somewhat dilated, and react easily and quickly to light. Some very nervous patients make themselves very un- comfortable by their repeated attempts to vomit and retch, and by constant swallowing and endeavouring to open the mouth widely. In these cases the anaesthetic should be pushed, and the patient rendered unconscious as soon as possible.