How ENTONOX works
Mode of action
Although nitrous oxide/oxygen medical gas mixtures have been used for analgesia over many years, the mechanism of action of nitrous oxide has not yet been fully understood. It has been suggested that its effects are due to the nitrous oxide component which causes the release of biochemical substances such as endorphins and serotonin. It is understood that nitrous oxide takes effect within the brain, as well as in the spinal cord, inhibiting pain impulses by stimulating various receptors and altering pain pathways.
Fast effect and elimination
We know how nitrous oxide is absorbed, metabolised and excreted from the body. Because of its very low solubility in both water and fat it works very quickly within the body. Its effects are apparent within four to five breaths reaching maximal effect within about two to three minutes of inhaling the gas (1). Furthermore, due to its low fat solubility, ENTONOX does not accumulate within the body to any great extent; it is rapidly eliminated via the lungs when inhalation ceases.
(1) Rooks JP. Nitrous oxide for pain in labor – why not in the United States? Birth 2007 March; 34(1):3-5.
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