International Journal of Surgery and Anesthesia Research

Anesthetic Mechanisms

This theory proposes that the local anesthetic diffuses across the cell membrane and binds to a specific receptor at the opening of the voltage-gated sodium channel. The local anesthetic affinity to the voltage-gated Na + channel increases markedly with the excitation rate of the neuron. These early studies suggested that general anesthetics may transiently block action potential conduction in axons. After the removal of the anesthetic, the action potentials returned to control amplitude, highlighting the transient nature of general anesthetic effect.

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