Over the last several decades, the average age of patients has steadily increased, whereas the use of general anesthesia and deep sedation has grown largely outside the operating room environment. Currently available general anesthetics and delivery models represent limitations in addressing these trends. At the same time, research has tremendously expanded the knowledge of how general anesthetics produce their beneficial effects and also revealed evidence of previously unappreciated general anesthetic toxicities. The goal of this review is to highlight these important developments and describe translational research on new general anesthetics with the potential to improve and reshape clinical care.
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