• J L Benthuysen, B D Foltz, N T Smith, T J Sanford, H Dec-Silver, and C J Westover.
• Department of Anesthesiology, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, CA, USA.
• J Cardiothorac Anesth. 1988 Dec 1;2(6):749-57.

AbstractCardiovascular responses and the need for intervention with vasoactive agents were measured prospectively in a randomized study of 50 adult patients receiving sufentanil (n = 20), fentanyl (n = 20), or morphine (n = 10) anesthesia for cardiac surgery. Measurements were recorded and compared during induction and prebypass at intervals during which airway or surgically induced stress responses were likely to be greatest. Randomized, double-blinded doses of opioids were administered slowly and titrated according to clinical responses (hemodynamics) and the electroencephalogram. Mean doses were as follows: from induction until time of incision, sufentanil, 9.1 microg/kg; fentanyl, 58 microg/kg; and morphine, 2.5 mg/kg; and total dose for surgery; sufentanil, 18.9 microg/kg; fentanyl, 95.4 microg/kg; and morphine, 4.4 mg/kg. Equi-anesthetic depth in patients receiving sufentanil or fentanyl was confirmed by continuous electroencephalographic monitoring. Patients anesthetized with sufentanil and fentanyl showed marked cardiovascular stability and rarely responded to stimuli. Systolic arterial pressure, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, cardiac index, systemic vascular resistance index, pulmonary vascular resistance index, stroke volume index, and stroke work index values were similar in the two groups. Patients receiving morphine experienced large changes in several variables. Pharmacologic intervention was made when systolic arterial pressure deviated more than 30% from pre-event values and was uncontrolled by additional opioids. Interventions were necessary more often in patients receiving morphine (nine of ten) or fentanyl (12 of 20) than in patients receiving sufentanil (six of 20), P < 0.05. Results from this study suggest that morphine is a relatively unsatisfactory anesthetic, while sufentanil and fentanyl, at equi-anesthetic depths, provide stable and satisfactory hemodynamics.

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