Desflurane

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Khan J, Liu M

Desflurane

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PubMed ID
30725791 [ View in PubMed
]
Abstract

The FDA-approved indications for desflurane are induction or maintenance of anesthesia in adults. It may also be used for maintenance of anesthesia in pediatric patients following induction with agents other than desflurane. Desflurane is a racemic mixture of two enantiomers. Desflurane (1,2,2,2-tetrafluoroethyl difluoromethyl ether) was first synthesized in the 1970s, it is halogenated exclusively with fluorine, and is very resistant to defluorination.[1] For this reason, it is not associated with nephrotoxicity, as is the case with other inhalational anesthetic agents. When first introduced, desflurane was difficult to synthesize and expensive, limiting its use, but given its low blood solubility and rapid induction, it became more popular. It has the most rapid onset of the inhalational anesthetics, but the higher cost of desflurane limits its use compared to other agents.

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