Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow E-Letters: Submit a response to the article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (8)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Harrison, G. R.
Right arrow Articles by Thompson, J. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Harrison, G. R.
Right arrow Articles by Thompson, J. M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

British Journal of Anaesthesia, 2003, Vol. 91, No. 6 797-799
© 2003 The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia

Clinical Investigations

Real-time breath monitoring of propofol and its volatile metabolites during surgery using a novel mass spectrometric technique: a feasibility study

G. R. Harrison1, A. D. J. Critchley2, C. A. Mayhew*,2 and J. M. Thompson2

1 Featherstone Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, University Hospital Birmingham NHS Trust, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK. 2 Molecular Physics Group, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK

*Corresponding author. E-mail: c.mayhew@bham.ac.uk

Background. At present, there is no rapid method for determining the plasma concentration of i.v. anaesthetics. A solution might be the measurement of the anaesthetic concentration in expired breath and its relation to the plasma concentration. We used chemical ionization methods to determine whether an i.v. anaesthetic can be detected in the low concentrations (parts per billion by volume) in the expired breath of an anaesthetized patient.

Method. Chemical ionization mass spectrometry can measure trace gases in air with high sensitivity without interference from major gases. We carried out a feasibility trial with a proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS) to monitor the i.v. anaesthetic agent propofol and two of its metabolites in exhaled gas from an anaesthetic circuit. Exhaled gas was sampled via a 4 m long, unheated tube connected to the PTR-MS.

Results. Propofol and its metabolites were monitored in real time in the expired breath of patients undergoing surgery.

Conclusion. Routine measurement of i.v. agents, analogous to that for volatile anaesthetic agents, may be possible.

Br J Anaesth 2003; 91: 797–9


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol.Home page
C. Putzke, P. J. Hanley, G. Schlichthorl, R. Preisig-Muller, S. Rinne, M. Anetseder, R. Eckenhoff, C. Berkowitz, T. Vassiliou, H. Wulf, et al.
Differential effects of volatile and intravenous anesthetics on the activity of human TASK-1
Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, October 1, 2007; 293(4): C1319 - C1326.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.