page_title: Inhalation sedation
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Inhalation sedation / History
caption_attribution_description: 'Laughing Gas'. General Collections Keywords: George Cruikshank
context_page_description: Inhalation sedation is a form of conscious sedation where an inhaled drug should:
  Depress the central nervous system to an extent that surgeons can operate with minimal physiological and psychological stress to the patient
  Modify the patient's state of mind such that communication is maintained and the patient can respond to verbal command
  Carry a margin of safety wide enough to render the unintended loss of consciousness and loss of protective reflexes unlikely.
context_section_description: Nitrous oxide was first discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1772. In 1795, Humphry Davy and surgeon J. B. Borlase experimented with nitrous oxide and the effects of its inhalation. Davy then published a book in 1799 hinting the possible role of nitrous oxide in achieving mild anaesthesia during surgical procedures.  In 1844, Dr. Horace Wells carried out an experiment on himself where he had Professor Gardner Quincy Colton administer nitrous oxide to himself prior to a wisdom tooth extraction by Dr. John Riggs. Wells discovered that he was unaware of the procedure and experienced absolutely no pain during the procedure.
  In 1824, Henry Hill Hickman used carbon dioxide to achieve a state of "suspended animation" in animals; successfully diminishing pain during the surgical procedure.
  In 1831, chloroform was discovered by Justus von Liebig in Germany, Samuel Guthrie in New York and Eugène Soubeiran in France, all of whom worked independently.
  In 1842, a chemist in Rochester, William Edward Clarke provided Dr. Elijah Pope with ether prior to a tooth extraction of his patient. In the same year, a doctor in Georgia, Dr. Crawford W. Long administered ether to John Venable for the removable of a neck tumour.
caption: "Laughing gas" was often used as entertainment in the early 1800s.
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