EFFECTS OF INCREMENTAL DOSES OF ALFENTANIL AND PROPOFOL ON THE BREATHING OF ANAESTHETIZED PATIENTS

• Published in: British journal of anaesthesia : BJA Vol. 63; no. 5; pp. 548 - 553
• Main Authors: GOODMAN, N.W., VANNER, R.G., WADE, J.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.11.1989; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Adult; Alfentanil - pharmacology; Anesthesia, General; Biological and medical sciences; Drug toxicity and drugs side effects treatment; Humans; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Propofol - pharmacology; Respiration - drug effects; Tidal Volume - drug effects; Time Factors; Toxicity: respiratory system, ent, stomatology; Human; Drug combination; Analgesic; Lung function; General anesthetic; Toxicity; Surgery; Respiratory system; Dose activity relation
• ISSN: 0007-0912; 1471-6771
• DOI: 10.1093/bja/63.5.548

Incremental doses of alfentanil and propofol were given to anaesthetized healthy patients undergoing routine orthopaedic surgery. Ventilation was recorded by respiratory inductance plethysmography and analysed by microcomputer. Alfentanil affected primarily expiratory time. The onset of effect lasted 82 s (range 25–173 s); offset was exponential, with a half-life of 146 s (range 62–260 s). Alfentanil also reduced tidal volume, but the effect was less obvious and less consistent. Propofol affected primarily tidal volume. The onset of effect lasted 34 s (range 17–69 s); offset was linear, with a time to 50% recovery of 92 s (range 47–161 s). Propofol had little effect on expiratory time. The drugs had little effect on inspiratory time. Three patients showed periods when the distribution of expiratory times was bimodal; the mechanism for this is unknown.