Cyclopropane: C3h6, is a colorless, highly flammable gas with a sweet petrol smell used in the past as ANESTHETIC.
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When it comes to the history of Anesthesiology, Cyclopropane was one of the first compounds used as a common anesthetic. First synthesized in 1881 by August Freund (a German Chemist), Cyclopropane was created with no applications during its time. It wasn't until Henderson and Lucas discovered its anesthetic properties in 1929, for it to be used medically. Because of its mass success it began to be mass produced and became a general anesthetic for much of the early and mid 20th century.
"I watched the anaesthetist place his hand close to boy’s chin, the tube from the anaesthetic machine poking inconspicuously between his fingers. With his other hand he turned the orange knob at the bottom of the thinnest of the four flowmeters so that gas from the orange cylinder at the side of the machine flowed down the tube where it mixed with an equal amount of oxygen. This mixture of cyclopropane, with its faintly sweet petrol-like smell, and oxygen, which has no smell, seeped silently out of the end of the tube just beneath the boy’s nose."
-John Powell's (retired anesthesiologist)
As history played on, it became ever more obvious that Cyclopropane was not the ideal material for anesthetic purposes. There were many recorded cases of explosions inside of hospital rooms that caused deaths and injuries, however many accounts have failed to be reported.
Application Details: Cyclopropane was officially introduced for clinical use by an American anesthetist Ralph Walters. Cyclopropane was induced in Gas form through the nose, like most other anesthetics. Cyclopropane itself would be mixed with an equal amount of oxygen before being inhaled into the lungs. Cyclopropane would put patients gentley to sleep as it would relax the nervous system, however if too much is administered, one may go through "Cyclopropane shock", also known as cardiac dysrhythmia.
Use Today: Although Cyclopropane has been far surpassed by other more practical and safer anesthetics, it still made a huge mark in medical history by opening a door into the anesthetic world. As of today, Cyclopropane is rarely is not never used in todays society.
"I watched the anaesthetist place his hand close to boy’s chin, the tube from the anaesthetic machine poking inconspicuously between his fingers. With his other hand he turned the orange knob at the bottom of the thinnest of the four flowmeters so that gas from the orange cylinder at the side of the machine flowed down the tube where it mixed with an equal amount of oxygen. This mixture of cyclopropane, with its faintly sweet petrol-like smell, and oxygen, which has no smell, seeped silently out of the end of the tube just beneath the boy’s nose."
-John Powell's (retired anesthesiologist)
As history played on, it became ever more obvious that Cyclopropane was not the ideal material for anesthetic purposes. There were many recorded cases of explosions inside of hospital rooms that caused deaths and injuries, however many accounts have failed to be reported.
Application Details: Cyclopropane was officially introduced for clinical use by an American anesthetist Ralph Walters. Cyclopropane was induced in Gas form through the nose, like most other anesthetics. Cyclopropane itself would be mixed with an equal amount of oxygen before being inhaled into the lungs. Cyclopropane would put patients gentley to sleep as it would relax the nervous system, however if too much is administered, one may go through "Cyclopropane shock", also known as cardiac dysrhythmia.
Use Today: Although Cyclopropane has been far surpassed by other more practical and safer anesthetics, it still made a huge mark in medical history by opening a door into the anesthetic world. As of today, Cyclopropane is rarely is not never used in todays society.