[Effects of pentobarbital anesthetic induction on sensory evoked potentials in the cat]

During the last decade, noninvasive electrophysiological tests with sensory evoked potentials have rapidly blossomed into useful clinical tools. They have been studied in large groups of normal subjects and in patients with a wide variety of neurologic diseases. Almost all experimental animal studies on sensory evoked potential, however, have not been undertaken under sufficient consideration on the effects of drugs used for induction into anesthesia on evoked potentials. In order to use evoked potentials as a tool for assessing neurological function in animals, it is necessary to known the effect of anesthetic agents on evoked potentials. Pentobarbital, Somnopentyl, is one of the drugs most commonly used for induction into anesthesia is animal experiments. Authors have attempted to study the long term effects of pentobarbital on evoked potentials. Intramuscular administration of anesthetic dose of pentobarbital was followed by prolongation of 11 and III waves of SEP and I-II interpeak latency of BAEP. Latency of N1 of SEP was also prolonged. On electroencephalogram, amplitude have increased and frequency have got slower after pentobarbital administration. These electrophysiological changes persisted over 5 hours after pentobarbital administration. These results suggest that in some studies on animals the residual effect of agents used for induction into anesthesia must be taken account for analysis of data obtained.