ETHER - a partially forgotten anesthetic

Pożarowska, Kinga, Rosińska, Agata, Orczykowski, Maciej, Tyszkiewicz, Marcin, Choina, Magdalena. ETHER - a partially forgotten anesthetic. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2022;12(11):114-119. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2022.12.11.015 https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/40583 https://zenodo.org/record/7243684 The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. 32343. Has a Journal's Unique Identifier: 201159. Scientific disciplines assigned: Physical Culture Sciences (Field of Medical sciences and health sciences); Health Sciences (Field of Medical Sciences and Health Sciences). Punkty Ministerialne z 2019 - aktualny rok 40 punktów. Załącznik do komunikatu Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 21 grudnia 2021 r. Lp. 32343. Posiada Unikatowy Identyfikator Czasopisma: 201159. Przypisane dyscypliny naukowe: Nauki o kulturze fizycznej (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu); Nauki o zdrowiu (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu). © The Authors 2022; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author (s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non commercial license Share alike. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 01.10.2022. Revised: 20.10.2022. Accepted: 22.10.2022. ETHER - a partially forgotten anesthetic Kinga Pożarowska 1, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0691-0155, kpozarowska@gmail.com Agata Rosińska 1, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0308-656X, agataros1996@gmail.com Maciej Orczykowski 1, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2319-3082, morczykowski7@gmail.com Marcin Tyszkiewicz 1, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5228-3741, mtyszkiewicz221@gmail.com Magdalena Choina 2, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3412-6176, ma.choina@tlen.pl 1- Medical University of Lublin, Lublin, Poland 2- Polish-Ukrainian Foundation of Medicine Development, Lublin, Poland ABSTRAKT INTRODUCTION: Ether is the common name for diethylether (CH3-CH2-O-CH2-CH3). It is a colorless, volatile and highly flammable liquid with a characteristic pungent odor. It was widely used as an anesthetic in the past and is now a component of solvents. PURPOSE OF THE WORK: The purpose of this paper is to introduce ether as a potentially forgotten substance in the world of Western medicine. Its history, current use, potential for abuse for narcotic purposes, addiction, and the benefits of anesthesia with this agent in impoverished countries. DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE: Ether was first synthesized in 1540 by Valerius Cordus. Ether is characterized by rapid absorption, rapid distribution in the central nervous system and rapid, short-lasting effects. Ether has high solubility in blood/gas, which slows both induction and recovery of anesthesia. In developing countries, it is suggested that ether be used as an intraoperative analgesia. But it should be remembered, despite the new psychoactive substances, other inexpensive and readily available intoxicants can be found, among them ether. It has been noted in numerous publications that abuse of ether is associated with abuse of other drugs and/or alcohol dependence. SUMMARY: It is important to remember that ether compounds are widespread. People struggling with the urge to abuse substances can get these substances easily and cheaply. On the other hand, ether anesthesia is a great solution for developing countries. There are situations there that due to lack of funds, some operations are carried out without anesthesia. Ether is cheap, and administering anesthesia with it is quite simple, and could give wonderful relief to these patients. KEYWORDS: ether, anesthesia, abus