Pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship of anesthetic drugs: from modeling to clinical use
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 25, 2026

Assessing Changes in Volatile General Anesthetic Sensitivity of Mice after Local or Systemic Pharmacological Intervention
Published on: October 16, 2013
1Department of Anesthesia and surgical intensive care, Gustave Roussy Cancer Center, 114, rue Édouard-Vaillant, VILLEJUIF, 94805, France.
Abstract:
Anesthesia is a combination of unconsciousness, amnesia, and analgesia, expressed in sleeping patients by limited reaction to noxious stimulations. It is achieved by several classes of drugs, acting mainly on central nervous system. Compared to other therapeutic families, the anesthetic drugs, administered by intravenous or pulmonary route, are quickly distributed in the blood and induce in a few minutes effects that are fully reversible within minutes or hours. These effects change in parallel with the concentration of the drug, and the concentration time course of the drug follows with a reasonable precision mathematical models based on the Fick principle. Therefore, understanding concentration time course allows adjusting the dosing delivery scheme in order to control the effects. The purpose of this short review is to describe the basis of pharmacokinetics and modeling, the concentration-effects relationship, and drug interactions modeling to offer to anesthesiologists and non-anesthesiologists an overview of the rules to follow to optimize anesthetic drug delivery.
Related Concept Videos
Pharmacokinetic–Pharmacodynamic Relationship: Model Components
Pharmacokinetic–Pharmacodynamic Relationship: Problems
Pharmacodynamic Models: Direct Effect Model and Indirect Response Model
Impact of Pharmacokinetic–Pharmacodynamic Models: Regulatory Decisions
Pharmacokinetic–Pharmacodynamic Relationship: Exposure, Response and Effect
Pharmacokinetic–Pharmacodynamic Relationship: Dose to Pharmacological Effect

