Improved Patient Recovery After Anesthesia With Hypercapnia Hyperpnoea

Improved Patient Recovery After Anesthesia With Hypercapnia Hyperpnoea

The proposed study will measure the time from the end of surgery until the time patients meet the discharge criteria from the postoperative anesthesia care unit and the time from the end of surgery until the patients regained cognitive function after anesthesia.

Hypercapnia has been used in conjunction with hyperpnoea to provide a more rapid return of responsiveness after inhaled anesthesia. In our first clinical study with isoflurane we confirmed that the time from turning off the vaporizer to opening of eyes was shortened by an average of 62% when the minute ventilation was elevated and the end tidal carbon dioxide concentration was kept at 52 mmHg rather than 28 mmHg during emergence. In our second study we found that hypercapnia and hyperpnoea accelerated recovery proportionately for sevoflurane and desflurane. The benefits of accelerating subject recovery in the operating room may extend to the entire recovery period if the subject is more alert and easier to care for when they arrive in the post anesthesia care unit.

Inclusion Criteria:

• adults
• ASA class I-III
• both genders
• scheduled to undergo eye surgery at the Moran Hospital.

Exclusion Criteria:

• a history of renal or hepatic disease,
• chronic alcohol or drug abuse,
• disabling neuropsychiatric disorder,
• hypersensitivity or unusual response to other halogenated anesthetics,
• pulmonary hypertension,
• increased intracranial pressure,
• seizure disorder
• personal/familial history of malignant hyperthermia.
• currently being treated with known hepatic enzyme-inducing drugs (e.g., phenobarbital, dilantin or isoniazid)
• or with drugs known to alter anesthetic requirements (e.g., opiates, clonidine, alpha2 agonists, alcohol, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, barbiturates, benzodiazepines or other tranquilizers).
• intolerance to non-steroidal anti-inflammatories.
• have received general anesthesia within the previous 7 days,
• received any investigational drug within the previous 28 days,
• participated in a previous isoflurane or desflurane study
• Female subjects can be neither pregnant nor breast feeding.