Sevoflurane

The current king of the hill in inhalational general anaesthetic agents. Marketed as Ultrane or Sevorane, this is the latest in a series of fluoridated ethers used both for induction and/or maintenance of general anaesthesia.

Sevoflurane has the chemical formula of C₄H₃OF₇, and the structure:

  H   CF3
  |   |
F-C-O-C-H
  |   |
  H   CF3

Like all other halogenated inhalational agents, sevoflurane carries the risk of malignant hyperthermia in some rare individuals.

Inhalational anaesthetic agents

The chief advantage of sevoflurane over the other commonly-used inhaled agents used in anesthesia is that sevoflurane does not make the patient cough. The other agents are irritating, and are generally used after the patient has already been put to sleep and intubated because severe irritation could cause laryngospasm which makes it hard to breathe.
Sevoflurane can be tolerated while awake. It smells mildly bad, but for children there is often an added smell to mask it, like cherry or bubble gum.