Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Apr 1991
High-dose alfentanil for myocardial revascularization: a hemodynamic and pharmacokinetic study.
It has been suggested that high plasma levels of alfentanil are required in order to control hemodynamic responses to noxious stimuli in patients undergoing myocardial revascularization. The present study was designed to determine the hemodynamic profile in 10 patients and the time course of alfentanil plasma concentrations and pharmacokinetics (7 patients) during and following coronary artery surgery using alfentanil administration based on an overdosage principle. Premedication consisted of lorazepam, 0.07 mg/kg, given 2 hours before surgery. ⋯ Recovery time was short, despite the large amounts of narcotic used. It is concluded that very high doses of alfentanil associated with lorazepam premedication resulted in hemodynamic stability and markedly elevated narcotic plasma concentrations in most patients. Such plasma levels seem to provide satisfactory anesthetic conditions.