Pharmacologic Antagonists in Anesthetic Practice

Anesthesia is in many ways the clinical practice of pharmacology. Today’s anesthesiologists are being asked to understand and use an increasingly diverse type and number of drugs. Ever since Langley discovered that a South American arrow poison paralyzed skeletal muscle, it has become increasingly evident that most drugs exert their effect through interactions with macromolecules that are now called receptors. Biologically, endogenous ligands (hormones, neurotransmitters) interact with receptors to maintain and regulate many aspects of body function.