Editing Halothane (section)

==History==
[[File:The Fluothane Story.png|thumb|An advertisement for ''Fluothane'', published in various American medical journals between 1961 and 1962.]] 
Halothane was first synthesized by [[Charles Suckling|C. W. Suckling]] of [[Imperial Chemical Industries]] in 1951 at the ICI [[Widnes Laboratory]] and was first used clinically by M. Johnstone in [[Manchester]] in 1956. Initially, many pharmacologists and anaesthesiologists had doubts about the safety and efficacy of the new drug. But halothane, which required specialist knowledge and technologies for safe administration, also afforded British anaesthesiologists the opportunity to remake their speciality as a profession during a period, when the newly established [[National Health Service]] needed more specialist consultants.<ref name="Medicating">{{cite journal | vauthors = Mueller LM | title = Medicating Anaesthesiology: Pharmaceutical Change, Specialisation and Healthcare Reform in Post-War Britain  | journal = Social History of Medicine | date = March 2021 | volume = 34 | issue = 4 | pages = 1343–65 | doi = 10.1093/shm/hkaa101 }}</ref> In this context, halothane eventually became popular as a nonflammable general anesthetic replacing other [[volatile anesthetic]]s such as [[trichloroethylene]], [[diethyl ether]] and [[cyclopropane]]. In many parts of the world it has been largely replaced by newer agents since the 1980s but is still widely used in developing countries because of its lower cost.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Bovill JG | title = Modern Anesthetics | chapter = Inhalation Anaesthesia: From Diethyl Ether to Xenon | series = Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology | issue = 182 | pages = 121–142 | date = 2008 | volume = 182 | pmid = 18175089 | doi = 10.1007/978-3-540-74806-9_6 | isbn = 978-3-540-72813-9 }}</ref>

[[File:Halothane meter.jpg|thumb|A meter for measuring halothane. This was used to measure the amount of halothane as flow of inspired gas during anesthesia.]]

Halothane was given to many millions of people worldwide from its introduction in 1956 through the 1980s.<ref name="NiedermeyerSilva2005">{{cite book| vauthors = Niedermeyer E, da Silva FH |title=Electroencephalography: Basic Principles, Clinical Applications, and Related Fields|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tndqYGPHQdEC&pg=PA1156|year=2005|publisher=Lippincott Williams & Wilkins|isbn=978-0-7817-5126-1 |page=1156 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160509001417/https://books.google.com/books?id=tndqYGPHQdEC&pg=PA1156|archive-date=9 May 2016}}</ref> Its properties include cardiac depression at high levels, cardiac sensitization to [[catecholamine]]s such as [[norepinephrine]], and potent bronchial relaxation. Its lack of airway irritation made it a common inhalation induction agent in pediatric anesthesia.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Himmel HM | title = Mechanisms involved in cardiac sensitization by volatile anesthetics: general applicability to halogenated hydrocarbons? | journal = Critical Reviews in Toxicology | volume = 38 | issue = 9 | pages = 773–803 | date = 2008 | pmid = 18941968 | doi = 10.1080/10408440802237664 | s2cid = 12906139 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Chavez CA, Ski CF, Thompson DR | title = Psychometric properties of the Cardiac Depression Scale: a systematic review | journal = Heart, Lung & Circulation | volume = 23 | issue = 7 | pages = 610–8 | date = July 2014 | pmid = 24709392 | doi = 10.1016/j.hlc.2014.02.020 }}</ref> 
Its use in [[developed countries]] has been mostly replaced by newer anesthetic agents such as [[sevoflurane]].<ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Yentis SM, Hirsch NP, Ip J |title=Anaesthesia and Intensive Care A-Z: An Encyclopedia of Principles and Practice|date=2013|publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn=978-0-7020-5375-7 |page=264|edition=5th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Te7TAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA264 |language=en|url-status=live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170910175402/https://books.google.com/books?id=Te7TAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA264|archive-date=10 September 2017}}</ref> It is not commercially available in the United States.<ref name=Pro2005/>