Preparation of the Siemens KION anesthetic machine for patients susceptible to malignant hyperthermia.

BACKGROUND Preparation of anesthetic machines for use with malignant hyperthermia-susceptible (MHS) patients requires that the machines be flushed with clean fresh gas. We investigated the washout of inhalational anesthetics from the KION anesthetic machine. METHODS In part 1, halothane was circulated through KION anesthetic machines for either 2 or 12 h using a test lung. The times to washout halothane (to 10 parts per million [ppm]) first, from the internal circuitry and second, from the ventilator-patient cassette (without the carbon dioxide absorber) were determined at 5 and 10 l/min fresh gas flow (FGF). In part 2, the rates of washout of halothane or isoflurane from either the KION or Ohmeda Excel 210 machines were compared. The effluent gases were analyzed using calibrated Datex Capnomac Ultima (Helsinki, Finland) and a Miran LB2 Portable Ambient Air Analyzer (Foxboro, Norwalk, CT). RESULTS Halothane was washed out of the internal circuitry of the KION within 5 min at 10 l/min FGF. Halothane was eliminated from the ventilator-patient cassette in 22 min at the same FGF. The times to reach 10 ppm concentration of halothane and isoflurane in the KION at 10 l/min FGF, 23 to 25 min, was four-fold greater than those in the Ohmeda Excel 210, 6 min. CONCLUSIONS To prepare the KION anesthetic machine for MHS patients, the machine without the carbon dioxide absorber must be flushed with 10 l/min FGF for at least 25 min to achieve 10 ppm anesthetic concentration. This FGF should be maintained throughout the anesthetic to avoid increases in anesthetic concentration in the FGF.