[Effect of propofol as an agent for anesthetic induction on pituitary-adrenocortical function during anesthesia and...

Effect of propofol as an agent for anesthetic induction on plasma levels of cortisol, beta-endorphin-like immunoreactivity (beta-ELI), growth hormone (GH) and prolactin were evaluated in 20 non-abdominal surgical patients ranged in ages from 19 to 64 years. Anesthesia was induced with either intravenous propofol 2-2.5 mg in ten patients or intravenous thiopental 4-5 mg in the remaining 10 patients as the control group, and succinylcholine was administered intravenously to facilitate tracheal intubation. Enflurane-nitrous oxide-oxygen was then given to maintain anesthesia in all the patients of both groups. Plasma cortisol levels decreased slightly with anesthesia in the propofol group, but they increased slightly after anesthetic induction in the control group. Therefore they were significantly lower in the propofol group than those in the control group. They tended to increase gradually during surgery and reached the peak value after the emergence from anesthesia in both groups. Plasma beta-ELI levels were unchanged with anesthesia alone in the patients of both groups. They tended to increase gradually during surgery and reached the peak value after the emergence from anesthesia in both groups. Plasma GH levels were not affected with anesthesia, but they increased slightly during surgery in both groups. Plasma prolactin levels increased significantly during anesthesia and surgery in both groups, and they decreased after the emergence from anesthesia but were still significantly higher than the preanesthetic values in both groups. The authors' findings suggest that effects of propofol as an agent for anesthetic induction on pituitary-adrenocortical function during anesthesia and surgery are comparable to those of thiopental, and that propofol does not exert inhibitory effect on pituitary-adrenocortical function during anesthesia and surgery.