[Cardiovascular response to orotracheal intubation using midazolam or etomidate in anesthesia induction]

By means of the present study, we compare the variations in the cardiovascular response to the orotracheal intubation while using midazolam or etomidate during the anesthetic induction. For this purpose, we studied 2 groups of 10 patients each one which were premedicated with fentanyl and atropine, and succinylcholine as muscle relaxant. We took the data at a basal state, 10 minutes after premedication and 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10 minutes after the intubation handling. As hemodynamic data we registered heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure and the rate product (PRP). In both groups, the peak response occurred two minutes after intubation in all the studied parameters. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as PRP were significantly lower with midazolam. We conclude that midazolam and etomidate do not prevent the cardiovascular response to the intubation handling, although midazolam smooths pressure response.