The Physical Effects Of Volatile Anesthetics On Polycarbonate Membrane Oxygenators

The spillage of enflurane on the outside of a membrane oxygenator during cardiopulmonary bypass resulted in a leak at the venous outlet, with nearly fatal outcome. We studied the effect of three different volatile anesthetics on the polycarbonate parts of unused and used COBE CMS membrane oxygenators with 30-HRV open filtered reservoir. The polycarbonate parts were submitted to a series of tests and then exposed to the volatile anesthetics. Intact polycarbonate was not affected by etheric volatile anesthetics, but by halothane. Internal and externally applied stress (cyclic loading or pressure) may make the polycarbonate vulnerable for etheric volatile anesthetics. The bending motion caused by the continuos vibrations of the cardiopulmonary pump may damage the polycarbonate equipment, thus making it vulnerable to the harmful activity of etheric volatile anesthetics.