Anesthesia Definition: Medical Purpose and Meaning

Study Notes

Anesthesia derives from the Greek roots "an" (without) and "estheia" (feeling or sensation), literally meaning "without feeling or sensation".
Modern anesthesia uses medicines called anesthetics to relax, make insensitive to pain, make sleepy, or render unconscious during medical and surgical procedures.

The term "anesthesia" was first used by Greek philosopher and physician Dioscorides in the 1st century AD to describe the analgesic properties of mandragora (mandrake).
Ancient people used compounds like cannabis, opium, ethyl alcohol, Hyoscyamus, and cocoa leaves to help relieve pain.
Soporific sponges were used from the 9th to 13th centuries to provide pain relief during surgery.
Medieval physicians used alcohol to relieve pain, administering it orally or through fumes.

In 1773, Joseph Priestley introduced nitrous oxide (laughing gas) as an inhaled anesthetic.
In 1804, Seishu Hanaoka used general anesthesia prior to surgery with a concoction called Tsusensan.
In 1842, Crawford Williamson Long administered diethyl ether as a general anesthetic to remove a patient's neck tumor.
Other important 19th-century discoveries include the use of chloroform for general anesthesia and the development of techniques and drugs for local anesthesia.

In the early 20th century, scientists struggled to create high-quality inhalation anesthetics.
By the mid-20th century, they developed fluorinated hydrocarbons, such as isoflurane, desflurane, and sevoflurane.
The 20th century saw developments in drug delivery and the kinds of drugs used for anesthesia, including procaine, lidocaine, thiopental, ketamine, etomidate, propofol, and others.

Anesthesia: Definition and Purpose