Open AccessA Comparison of the Cerebral Protective Effects of Etomidate, Thiopental, and Isoflurane in a Model of Forebrain Ischemia in the Rat
Author(s) -
Tomoya Sano,
Piyush M. Patel,
John C. Drummond,
Daniel J. Cole
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
anesthesia and analgesia/anesthesia and analgesia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.404
H-Index - 201
eISSN - 1526-7598
pISSN - 0003-2999
DOI - 10.1213/00000539-199305000-00013
Subject(s) - etomidate , isoflurane , medicine , anesthesia , ischemia , burst suppression , hippocampus , electroencephalography , propofol , psychiatry
We evaluated the effect of etomidate, thiopental, and isoflurane on ischemic neuronal injury in rats. Control group animals received 1.2% isoflurane. The animals in the etomidate and thiopental groups received an infusion of either etomidate or thiopental until electroencephalographic (EEG) burst-suppression was attained. In the fourth group, the isoflurane concentration was increased to 3% (sufficient to produce EEG burst-suppression). Forebrain ischemia was induced by bilateral carotid artery occlusion with simultaneous hypotension for 10 min. Three days after ischemia, two blinded observers evaluated neuronal injury in coronal brain sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Injury to the ventral CA1 of the hippocampus was less in the etomidate group than in the control group. Injury to the entorhinal cortex was less in the thiopental group than in the control group. Histopathologic outcome in animals anesthetized with 1.2% isoflurane and 3% isoflurane was not different. Although these data indicate that etomidate and thiopental might reduce ischemic injury in some structures, the magnitude of the protective effects observed was small.