Intestinal vascular effects of inhaled and locally administered enflurane in the cat

The effects of enflurane on intestinal vascular resistance and blood flow in the intestine were studied in cats during basal chloralose anaesthesia. A jejunal segment was prepared and perfused with blood from both femoral arteries, allowing control of intestinal inflow pressure. Mesenteric venous blood flow was measured with an optical drop recorder. During constant intestinal arterial pressure (75 mmHg; 10 kPa), intestinal vascular resistance was calculated during enflurane inhalation at MAC 0.5 and 1.0 before and after postganglionic denervation of the jejunal segment. Inhalation of enflurane reduced intestinal vascular resistance in a dose-dependent fashion. The decrease in vascular resistance was attenuated but not abolished by post-ganglionic denervation, indicating both peripheral and central nervous sites of action for enflurane. Furthermore, with the intestinal segment perfused at systemic arterial pressure, the effects of locally intraarterially infused enflurane dissolved in a fat emulsion was studied. A vasodilator response was elicited in the intestine when exposed to local arterial enflurane concentrations in the same range as encountered during surgical anaesthesia in man, supporting the hypothesis of a peripheral site of action.