Evolution of Anaesthesia

Abstract

Anaesthesia or anesthesia in Greek means “without sensation” (“an” meaning “without” and “aesthesis” meaning “sensation”); the term was coined by Oliver Wendell Holmes in 1846. It is a state of controlled, temporary unconsciousness created by administration of drugs, which allows medical and surgical procedures to be undertaken without causing undue distress or discomfort, both to patient and surgeon. It also includes analgesia and muscle paralysis. With the advent in science and technology, early diagnosis and treatment has led to increase in invasive interventions. Also, with increase in patient awareness, available information on Internet, every patient wants their invasive intervention without any stress and pain and, thus, increases need of anaesthesia/ sedation. Today, anaesthesia is a part of almost every clinical speciality, either demanding general or local anaesthesia. Even for insertion of intravenous cannula, patient demands local anaesthesia to avoid undue stress but this was not the case a century ago.