As stovain produces temporary anesthesia, it occurred to us that repeated injections of the drug probably would produce anesthesia of gradually increasing duration until finally we might obtain a persisting loss of sensation, which would be the result of organic change. Whether the same may be said of any other drug has not as yet been determined. We desired to ascertain whether a systemic degeneration of the posterior roots and their continuation in the posterior columns of the cord is the common result of the repeated use of stovain. It was important, moreover, to determine whether the paralysis that occurs in stovain anesthesia is of a motor or sensory type, i. e., whether it is produced by changes in the peripheral motor neurons, or is the result of abolition of all afferent impulses which normally pass over the posterior roots. Reflex action and all recognition of tonicity or relaxation of the limbs
SPILLER WG, LEOPOLD S. THE EFFECT OF STOVAIN ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. JAMA. 1910;LIV(23):1840–1843. doi:10.1001/jama.1910.92550490006002
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