General anesthesia always presents dangers, both immediate and consequent to the intervention or to the patient, whatever anesthetic may be used. Whenever there is narcosis, there is dan~er. Th(' immediate dangers are asphyxia, syncope and, above all, death. 'fhe mortality due to general anesthesia is slight, but it exists beyond question much more frequently than is reported. The secondary results are manifested in the liver, the kidneys, the lungs and the general condition, and may~o as far as death. The sur~eon then brings in the diagnosis of shock under operation, but rarely assigns the real cause: the~eneral anesthetic. Regional and local anesthesia are the two kinds used constantly in otorhinolaryngology. The purpose of regional anesthesia is to reach the nerve trunks whose branches give the sensation to the site of operation. It is applied at some distance from the field of operation. In bringing the anesthetic agent into contact with these nerve trunks, their connection is suspended and there is temporarily a real disconnection, from a physiologic point of view, which renders the field of intervention insensible. 1 Local anesthesia is too well known for us to insist upon a description. The name of Reclus 2 will continue to be connected with it permanently, for he was truly its father. Local •Translation made in the office of the Surgeon-General of the Army from the original' which was published in La Resta.urat(on Maxillo•facia/c.
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