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Anesthetics are drugs that induce a temporary inability to perceive any sensory stimuli. They achieve this effect by acting on the brain or peripheral nervous system to suppress responses to sensory stimulation, primarily to touch, pressure, and pain. The unresponsive state induced by anesthetic drugs is known as anesthesia. General anesthetics induce anesthesia throughout the body and can be...
agent which produces a local or general loss of sensation, including pain. General anesthesia involves loss of consciousness, usually for the purpose of relieving the pain of surgery. Local anesthesia involves loss of sensation in one area of the body by the blockage of conduction in nerves.
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