New products, a growing world population expected to reach 6.8 billion in three years, as well as the aging of that population, will push anesthesia drug sales 1.9% to nearly $4.3 billion by 2011, according to Anesthesia Drugs: Worldwide Markets, a new report by Kalorama Information. More than 300 million surgical procedures required anesthetic administration worldwide in 2006, and Kalorama Information expects that number will rise accordingly as the incidence and prevalence of disease grows with the world population.

Adjunctive therapies, drugs given in the perioperative period to facilitate and/or augment the anesthetic process, will likely represent the largest percentage of growth during the forecast period primarily due to new developments in the anesthesia reversal market. The adjunctive therapies market grew from $793.3 million in 2004 to $825.5 million in 2006 and is expected to reach $1.2 billion by 2011, an increase of 8.2%.

Trends affecting future growth of anesthesia drugs include research and development in several promising areas, including the treatment of depression and sleep disorders and the growing use of conscious sedation, a procedure that involves sedative drugs that lower the level of consciousness but doesnt put a patient completely under.

"The availability of sedating drugs, such as fentanyl and Versed, has been a real boon to the industry," said Melissa Elder, author of Anesthesia Drugs, "Advancements in the area of conscious sedation have resulted in nearly 70% of surgical procedures being performed in hospital outpatient departments, surgical centers, and doctors offices, which allow doctors to perform operations ranging from tummy tucks to cardiac catheterizations without the need for general anesthesia or an overnight hospital stay."

Anesthesia Drugs covers both currently marketed and late stage development anesthesia drugs worldwide with special emphasis on general, local, and adjunctive therapies in anesthesia in the U.S. The report analyzes products in development and on the market, leading competitors, and current issues and trends affecting the industry