• X-L Meng, L-W Wang, W Zhao, and X-Y Guo.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Peking University Third Hospital, No. 49 Huayuan Road Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China.
• Ir J Med Sci. 2015 Dec 1; 184 (4): 799-803.

BackgroundSomatosensory-evoked potentials (SSEPs) are widely used for intraoperative spinal cord monitoring. Although many general anesthetics inhibit SSEPs, etomidate has been reported to boost SSEPs. This clinical study aimed to test whether etomidate doses less than 0.3 mg/kg amplify SSEP monitoring.MethodsPatients were divided into four groups: A, B, C, and D. Etomidate doses of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 mg/kg were infused into patients in groups A, B, and C, respectively, after baseline SSEPs were obtained. Group D patients were infused with saline. In the subsequent 15 min, the amplitudes and latencies of SSEPs were recorded and compared.ResultsEtomidate exhibited amplification effects on SSEPs, and this effect increased with dose escalation. The amplitude changes in groups A, B, and C were significantly different (P = 0.002, P = 0.000, and P = 0.000, respectively) from that of group D. The amplitude change was largest in group C and significantly greater than those in groups A and B (P = 0.006, P = 0.000). Latency was not significantly affected (P < 0.05) by etomidate.ConclusionSmall doses of etomidate that were less than 0.3 mg/kg had dose-related amplification effects on SSEP monitoring.

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