Menu Close

Trilene Inhalation Anesthetic (ICI)

Health Sciences · Hospital for Sick Children

A blue and white cardboard package contains a brown-tinted glass bottle with a white plastic cap and a blue and white label. The box also contains a paper instruction sheet.

The opening at the top of the box is damaged.

Accession Number: 2025.sk.18

Alternative Name:

Primary Materials: Glass

Markings:

The label includes the following information: “Reg. Vic. 4871”, “HH310 A”; “43512/3”

Dimensions (cm): Height = 10, Max diam. = 8.

Function:

Trichloroethylene is a anesthetic marketed as Trilene. Trichloroethylene was introduced as an non-combustible inhalation anaesthetic in the 1940s. It was a light anesthesia generally used for pain relief.

Its disadvantages included the fact that it could not be used with soda lime carbon dioxide absorbers, commonly used in anesthesia breathing circuits; the combination produced a neurotoxin.

Condition:

Associated Instruments:

Manufacturer:

Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), Macclesfield, Cheshire, UK.

Date of Manufacture: Mid 20th c.

Provenance:

Additional Information and References:

Historical Notes:

Themes: