Feasible Mechanisms Whereby Anesthetics Might Prevent Pain - Essay Example

The pharmacological effect of Ketalar or Ketamine Hydrochloride is evidenced by normal laryngeal-pharyngeal reflexes and extreme analgesia. To this end, the drug’s central point of action in the Central Nervous System is the thalamo-neocortical projection area. Consequently, the ketamine discriminately lowers the neuronal action in certain parts of the cortex. This is action is more evident in the thalamus and association areas. At the same time, it stimulates certain areas in the limbic system and hypothalamus (Reiss, Evans, & Broyles 2002). This ultimately results in functional disorganization of unprescribed pathways in the thalamic and midbrain region. Ketalar equally lowers the impulse transmission within the medial medullary formation in the reticular. This area is critical in transmitting the emotional-affective parts on nociception to the higher brain areas from the spinal cord. In addition, the analgesic effects of ketamine are attributed to its occupation of the opiate receptors in the spinal cord and brain. The interaction with the N-Methyl-d-aspartate at times mediates the analgesic and anesthetic action of ketamine (Rosdahl & Kowalski 2008). Moreover, Ketamine’s analgesic effect on the spinal cord is due to the prevention of neuronal action on the dorsal horn wide range dynamic. The notion that CNS sodium blockade channels are the mechanism by which ketamine results in anesthesia, has been scientifically dispelled.