The future of anaesthesiology

Abstract

There was an era when bark of mandrake plant, boiled in wine was used to administer anesthesia. Ether, after reigning the kingdom of anaesthesiology for more than a century, came to be superseded by newer and newer agents. Anaesthesiology has witnessed tremendous developments since infancy. The introduction of advanced airway adjuncts, labour analgesia, patient controlled analgesia, fibreoptics, Bispectral Index monitors, workstations, simulators and robotic surgeries are only to name a further few. Anaesthesia for robotic surgery received much impetus and is still a dream to come true in many countries. But then, the rapid spin in technology and fast sophistication of medical field has even surpassed this. The next event to venture is entry of robots into human body made possible by a culmination of intricate medicine and fine technology that is Nanotechnology. This article briefly introduces the field of nanotechnology in relation to its potential benefits to the field of anaesthesiology. As with any new tecnique or application, nanotechnology as applied to anaesthesiology has tremendous potential for research and exploration. This article therefore orients the reader's mind towards the immense potential and benefits that can be tapped by carrying out further studies and experimentations.The literature was searched using databases, peer reviewed journals and books for over a period of one year (till December 2011). The search was carried out using keywords as nanotechnology, robotics, anesthesiology etc. Initially a master database was formed including human as well as animal studies. Later on the broad topic area was narrowed down to developments in nanotechnology as applied to anesthesiology. Further filtering of search results were done based on selection of researches and developments relating to local, regional and general anesthesia as well as critical care and pain and palliative care.

Keywords: Anaesthesiology; future; nanotechnology; robotics.