The safety and efficacy of desflurane

Desflurane is a new halogenated ether inhalational general anesthetic with low solubility in blood and body tissues. The aim of this study was to assess its anesthetic efficacy in elective surgical procedures, to evaluate its effect on patients' vital signs during maintenance and recovery and to detect the possible side effects (if any) on patients' liver and kidney functions. The study was carried out on thirty adult (ASA I and II) patients scheduled for different surgical procedures. All patients were premedicated with 0.1 mcg kg-1 oral midazolam and induced with 1 mcg kg-1 fentanyl followed by thiopentone sodium 4 mg kg-1 and atracurium 0.5 mg kg-1. The inspired concentration of desflurane was gradually increased until the required depth of anesthesia was reached. The results showed hemodynamic stability under desflurane. It has dose-dependent hypotensive effects with no arrhythmia. It potentiated atracurium, as the total dose needed to produce complete relaxation was 0.36 +/- 1.18 mg kg-1. There was no observable effect on both liver and kidney function given the small number of patients that were included in this study. In the post anesthetic period desflurane showed rapid recovery (3.81 +/- 4.076) and patients' recovery room stay was (17.22 +/- 1.079 min). No postoperative complications were detected.