The development of alfentanil infusions for cardiac anaesthesia

Experience gained using alfentanil during cardiac surgery promoted the development of a variable-rate alfentanil infusion for general surgery that was titrated in such a way that post-operative ventilatory support was avoided. The empirical method of adjusting dosage to clinical response, as currently applied to inhalational anaesthesia, proved to be a useful experimental method of defining dosage schemes before adequate knowledge of the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic variables of alfentanil was available.