Anesthetic Ethyl Chloride Spray is first sprayed in the mask, as it is pleasant and potent, it produces unconsciousness in 1-2 minutes.
Ether is then introduced till the patient is anesthetized to Guedel ‘s stage III and plane H when respiration is regular, eye movements cease, pupils are in mid position and reflexes absent (eyelid, corneal, conjunctival, swallowing).
If ethyl chloride spray is used as a local anesthetic, the skin should be prepared with petrolatum to prevent sloughing.
Anesthetic Ethyl Chloride Spray is the plane of surgical anesthesia. In stage IV (which should be avoided) the respiration stops, pupils are central and dilated.
This stage can be reversed by cutting off ether due to its high therapeutic ratio, i.e., the dose required for surgical anesthesia and severe cardiac depression is high. (Ether has also been used in semi-closed and closed anesthesia circuits.)
When Anesthetic Ethyl Chloride Spray is sprayed on the skin, it rapidly evaporates and thus cools the skin. This produces transient paralysis of cutaneous sensory nerve endings and local anesthesia.
The spray may produce local edema. As the local anesthetic effect of Anesthetic Ethyl Chloride Spray lasts from a few seconds to a minute, only very minor operations such as incision of an abscess can be carried out.