British Journal of Anaesthesia, Vol 76, Issue 1 85-89, Copyright © 1996 by The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia
J. Olsson and R. G. Hahn
Monitoring of ethanol concentration in expired air is a method for
assessing fluid absorption during transurethral prostatic surgery and
endometrial resection, but the validity of this technique has not been
studied in low-flow ventilation systems. For this purpose, we have compared
the concentration-time profiles of ethanol in expired gas and in venous
blood during an i.v. infusion of 0.4 g kg-1 of ethanol over 30 min in 10
women during isoflurane anaesthesia and in the awake state. Anaesthesia
increased the ethanol concentration in expired gas by 13% and in venous
blood by 34%. The expired gas-blood difference during infusion was
abolished, and the central volume of distribution for ethanol was reduced
from 20.9 to 8.6 litre, on average. We conclude that breath sampling during
low-flow isoflurane anaesthesia reflects an alcohol load well, but that a
change in ethanol disposition makes the values slightly higher than in the
awake state.
CLINICAL INVESTIGATIONS
Analysis of ethanol in expired air during low-flow isoflurane anaesthesia
Department of Anaesthesia, Sundsvall Central Hospital, S-851 86 Sundsvall, Sweden; Department of Anaesthesia, Stockholm Soder Hospital, S-118 83 Stockholm, Sweden
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