A novel intravenous general anesthetic--emulsified isoflurane: from bench to bedside.

Application of volatile anesthetics greatly alters modern medicine. There are obvious advantages of volatile anesthetics such as strong anesthetic potency, rapid onset and elimination through respiration system. Isoflurane is one of the most widely used volatile anesthetics in clinic. Emulsified isoflurane, the emulsion of isoflurane, is a novel intravenous general anesthetic. With the development of emulsified isoflurane in the past fifteen years, its utility has spread from intravenous general anesthesia to various fields including regional anesthesia, organ protection, as well as anesthetic pharmacological study. In this review, we will summarize literatures of emulsified isoflurane about its history, clinical application and future potential utility in the above mentioned fields.