We have investigated the effects of desflurane compared with isoflurane and propofol on intraocular pressure (IOP) in 48 ASA I-II patients undergoing elective non-ophthalmic surgery. Anaesthesia was induced with thiopental 3-5 mg kg-1, fentanyl 2-4 micrograms kg-1 and vecuronium 0.1 mg kg-1. Patients were allocated randomly to receive propofol (n = 16) 4-8 mg kg-1 h-1, isoflurane (n = 16) or de...

Does Changing from Isoflurane to Desflurane Affect Cerebral Hemodynamics in Children Jonathan H Smith, FRCA; Cengiz H Karsli, MD; Annie Lagace MD; Igor A Luginbuehl, MD; Bruno Bissonnette MD 1 Dept. of Anesthesia, The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada . Introduction: Although desflurane is kn...

HALOGENATED anesthetic agents have been associated with perioperative liver dysfunction and injury. Most cases of hepatotoxicity reported involve halothane exposure. Halothane produces two types of hepatotoxicity. A mild, transient syndrome with modest increases in transaminase enzymes occurs in 20% of patients given halothane. A more severe and fulminant hepatitis with marked liver dysfunction...

Although general anesthetics are thought to modify critical neuronal functions, their impact on neuronal communication has been poorly examined. We have investigated the effect induced by desflurane, a clinically used general anesthetic, on information transfer at the synapse between mossy fibers and granule cells of cerebellum, where this analysis can be carried out extensively. Mutual informa...

The aim of the present study was to estimate the genotoxicity of desflurane, applied as a volatile anaesthetic. The potential genotoxicity was determined by the comet assay as the extent of DNA fragmentation in human peripheral blood lymphocytes in vitro. The comet assay detects DNA strand breaks induced directly by genotoxic agents as well as DNA fragmentation due to cell death. Another anaest...

provided the original work is properly cited. CC The consumption of volatile agents during general anesthesia can be altered by fresh gas flow (FGF), and it is known to be better to maintain an anesthetic effect with a lesser amount of volatile anesthetics because cost considerations, as long as it does not present a safety problem. A previous study reported that the consumption of sevoflurane ...

BACKGROUND Anesthetic and ischemic preconditioning share similar signal transduction pathways. The authors tested the hypothesis that the beta1-adrenergic signal transduction pathway mediates anesthetic and ischemic preconditioning in vivo. METHODS Pentobarbital-anesthetized (30 mg/kg) rabbits (n = 96) were instrumented for measurement of systemic hemodynamics and subjected to 30 min of coron...

BACKGROUND Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and anesthetic-induced preconditioning against myocardial infarction are mediated via protein kinase B. Pim-1 kinase acts downstream of protein kinase B and was recently shown to regulate cardiomyocyte survival. The authors tested the hypothesis that IPC and anesthetic-induced preconditioning are mediated by Pim-1 kinase. METHODS Pentobarbital-anesthe...

INTRODUCTION Volatile anesthetics improve post-ischemic recovery. A meta-analysis suggested that the cardioprotective properties of desflurane and sevoflurane could reduce mortality and cardiac morbidity in cardiac surgery. Recent American College of Cardiology / American Heart Association Guidelines recommended volatile anesthetic agents during non-cardiac surgery for the maintenance of genera...

We have studied 40 infants with a post-conceptual age of less than 60 weeks undergoing general anaesthesia for herniotomy. Patients were anaesthetized with 1 MAC equivalent values for age and agent and allocated randomly to receive halothane, savoflurane or thiopental for induction, and halothane, sevoflurane or desflurane for maintenance of anaesthesia. At induction, both time to acceptance of...