Effects of intravenous anesthetic agents on pregnant myometrium

Emergent or elective surgical procedures under general anesthesia may be required during pregnancy for some patients. For this reason, effects of anesthetics on uterine contractions are important. General anesthesia is not limited to the administration of inhalation agents, since induction and maintenance of anesthesia usually involve intravenous administration of different anesthetic agents. The effects of these agents on uterine contractions and blood flow are very important. The unexpected relaxation or contraction of myometrium can be harmful to fetus and continuing pregnancy. Our aim in this study is to investigate the effects of intravenous anesthetic agents on uterine contractions. In our study, we examined the effects of ketamine, propofol and midazolam on contractions of isolated pregnant rat myometrium. We observed that exposure to propofol, ketamine and midazolam at the concentrations of 10(-5)-10(-4) M decreased spontaneous contractile activity in myometrial strips isolated from pregnant rats. There was statistically significant difference between the control and all strips exposed to propofol, ketamine and midazolam in the contraction amplitude and integrated area under the contraction curve.