Edwards Matthew L, Bause George S
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, 401 Quarry Rd, Stanford, CA 94305-5717, USA.
Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, 11100 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106-6031, USA; Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, 2124 Cornell Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106-3804, USA; Honorary Curator and Laureate of the History of Anesthesia, Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, American Society of Anesthesiologists, 1061 American Ln, Schaumburg, IL 60173-4973, USA.
J Anesth Hist. 2018 Oct;4(4):237-239. doi: 10.1016/j.janh.2018.07.006. Epub 2018 Aug 1.
During the 19 century, patients undergoing anesthesia for surgical and dental procedures were at risk of being given hypoxic or dilute nitrous oxide on four separate occasions. Primary and secondary saturation during surgery could account for two administrations of 100% nitrous-oxide anesthesia, while both diagnostic and therapeutic doses of dilute nitrous oxide were frequently administered in mental asylums.