From Simon Whiteley and Pat McHugh, The General Infirmary at Leeds
As consultant anaesthetists we never cease to be amazed by the prowess of our
surgical colleagues. However, at the current time (and for most of this century)
anaesthetics have been administered by medically qualified anaesthetists who
have undergone postgraduate training.
The title of the article would also seem to suggest a confusion over two
separate methods of inducing and maintaining anaesthesia. Asking the patient to
count backwards from ten (an outdated practice) is associated with the use of
intravenous induction agents, the mechanisms of action of which are reasonably
well elucidated.
It is true to say, however, that the mechanisms by which inhalational
anaesthetic agents produce unconsciousness is still unknown.
Leeds
