An anesthetic or anaesthetic is a drug used to induce anesthesia — in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two broad classes: general anesthetics, which result in a reversible loss of consciousness, and local anesthetics, which cause a reversible loss of sensation for a limited region of the body without necessarily affecting consciousness.
Leaves of the coca plant (Erythroxylum novogranatense var. Novogranatense), from which cocaine, a naturally occurring local anesthetic, is derived.
Bottles of sevoflurane, isoflurane, enflurane and desflurane, the most common fluorinated ether (flurane) inhalation anesthetics. Fluranes are color-coded – sevoflurane is marked yellow, isoflurane purple, enflurane orange and desflurane blue. The notches visible below the bottle caps are unique to each agent, ensuring that a vaporizer can only be filled with the correct agent.