Selective effect of althesin on the auditory evoked response in man

The auditory evoked response (AER) has been studied in six patients before the induction of general anaesthesia, during anaesthesia with nitrous oxide in oxygen and mechanical ventilation, then with a stepwise increasing rate of infusion of Althesin ranging from 18 micrograms kg-1 min 1 to 90 micrograms kg-1 min-1. The sections of the AER examined in this study were the brainstem waves I, III and V and the early cortical waves Pa and Nb. There were dose-related changes in latency and amplitude of waves Pa and Nb, latency increasing and amplitude diminishing with increasing concentrations of alphaxalone as measured in venous blood. In contrast, there were no changes in either latency or amplitude of the brainstem waves. This is consistent with other work suggesting that Althesin has little effect on neuronal function below the level of the superior colliculus.