Pharmacological premedication for anaesthesia.

Abstract

The psychological component of preoperative preparation should be completed with a selective use of drugs. The days of poly-pharmacy are over. Heavily sedated patients coming to the operation room with minimal oral secretions are not the purpose of modern premedication. Anxiolysis and slight sedation (painless patients) and analgesia (patients suffering from pain) are the main goals. Anticholinergics should be used only when needed, as is the case with premedication generally. The use of antiemetics and that of agents given for prophylaxis against allergic reactions or aspiration pneumonitis depend on specific needs of the patient. More accurate and generally accepted but simple methods are needed in studying the effects of different premedicants. The present results produced with a huge number of different more or less validated assessments can seldom be compared with each other.