British Journal of Anaesthesia, Vol 83, Issue 2 204-209, Copyright © 1999 by The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia
J. J. Pandit, J. Manning-Fox, K. L. Dorrington and P. A. Robbins
We have determined the influence of 0.1 minimum alveolar concentration
(MAC) of sevoflurane on ventilation, the acute ventilatory response to a
step change in end-tidal carbon dioxide and the ventilatory response to
sustained hypercapnia in 10 healthy adult volunteers. Subjects undertook a
preliminary 10-min period of breathing air without sevoflurane to determine
their normal ventilation and natural end-tidal PCO2. This 10-min period was
repeated while breathing 0.1 MAC of sevoflurane. Subjects then undertook
two procedures: end-tidal PO2 was maintained at 13.3 kPa and end-tidal PCO2
at 1.3 kPa above the subject's normal value for 30 min of data collection,
first with and then without 0.1 MAC of sevoflurane. A dynamic end-tidal
forcing system was used to generate these gas profiles. Sevoflurane did not
significantly change ventilation: 10.1 (SEM 1.0) litre min-1 without
sevoflurane, 9.6 (0.9) litre min-1 with sevoflurane. The response to acute
hypercapnia was also unchanged: mean carbon dioxide response slopes were
20.2 (2.7) litre min-1 kPa-1 without sevoflurane and 18.8 (2.7) litre min-1
kPa-1 with sevoflurane. Sustained hypercapnia caused a significant gradual
increase in ventilation and tidal volume over time and significant gradual
reduction in inspiratory and expiratory times. Sevoflurane did not affect
these trends during sustained hypercapnia. These results suggest that 0.1
MAC of sevoflurane does not significantly affect the acute ventilatory
response to hypercapnia and does not modify the progressive changes in
ventilation and pattern of breathing that occur with sustained hypercapnia.
CLINICAL INVESTIGATIONS
Effects of subanaesthetic sevoflurane on ventilation. 1: Response to acute and sustained hypercapnia in humans
Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK; University Laboratory of Physiology, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PT, UK
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