Chemical formula: N₂O Molecular mass: 44.013 g/mol PubChem compound: 948
The characteristics of nitrous oxide are:
Nitrous oxide is not very soluble in water but is fifteen times more soluble than oxygen.
Water dissolves nitrous oxide, taking 100 vol%, and blood plasma 45 vol%.
Nitrous oxide is eliminated unchanged from the body mostly by the lungs.
Nitrous oxide is a potent analgesic and a weak anaesthetic. Induction with nitrous oxide is relatively rapid, but a concentration of about 70% is needed to produce unconsciousness.
Endorphins are probably involved in the analgesic effect; a concentration of 25% nitrous oxide is usually adequate to provide a marked reduction in pain.
There are no essential observations about the pharmacokinetics of oxygen at this concentration.
Nitrous oxide is a low potency inhalation anaesthetic and high potency analgesic.
At a constant inspired concentration the rise time of alveolar concentrations is faster than that of any other anaesthetic agent. The elimination of nitrous oxide equally is faster than that of any other anaesthetic. This characteristic is especially valuable in analgesia for short-term pain relief.
The blood/gas partition co-efficient of nitrous oxide at 37°C is 0.46 compared with that of nitrogen of 0.015 causing nitrous oxide to expand into the internal gas spaces
The current published toxic-pharmacological data indicates that nitrous oxide is not harmful to humans.
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