• Y C Hsieh, Y C Chu, S M Lin, M Y Tsou, S K Tsai, and T Y Lee.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan, ROC.
• Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi (Taipei). 1999 Nov 1;62(11):801-6.

BackgroundSevoflurane, a newly approved potent inhaled anesthetic in Taiwan, provides rapid emergence from anesthesia in adults and children. Clinically, it is difficult to accurately assess the rate of recovery from anesthesia in infants. This study was designed to compare the emergence characteristics of halothane with those of sevoflurane having recourse to a respiratory agent monitor in infants undergoing outpatient surgery.MethodsForty infants of ASA class I, scheduled for day-case urologic surgery were studied. Patients were randomly allocated to two groups of 20. Sevoflurane or halothane was used as the inhaled anesthetic. Toward the end of surgery, sevoflurane or halothane was turned off. The concentrations of exhaled sevoflurane or halothane were read every minute after its discontinuation until extubation. The decay curve of the exhaled concentration of either agent was recorded minute by minute for 10 minutes. The time intervals from discontinuation of the inhalation agent to spontaneous movement and tracheal extubation were recorded. Untoward side-effects during emergence were also compared.ResultsSevoflurane was eliminated faster than halothane. Based on the decay curves of the exhaled concentrations of the two agents, the time constant for halothane was 2.59 minutes and that for sevoflurane was only 1.43 minutes. The time from discontinuation of agent to extubation was also shorter for sevoflurane. Postoperative restlessness or agitation occurred more frequently in infants who received sevoflurane, although the difference was of no statistical significance.ConclusionsSevoflurane is superior to halothane for rapid elimination in infant outpatient surgery as gauged by observation of end-tidal concentration elimination curves recorded with a respiratory agent monitor. No other postoperative side-effect was evident in sevoflurane anesthesia.

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