Sevoflurane

What is Sevoflurane?

  • Volatile inhaled anesthetic agent used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia.
  • It is synthetic, colourless and non-flammable

Mechanism of Action & Pharmacokinetics 1 2

  • There is no confirmed mechanism of action
  • Theories include possible activity on GABA receptors, calcium channels, or glutamate

Pharmacodynamics 1 2

Cardiovascular

  • Dose-related reduction in blood pressure due to a decrease in SVR

Respiratory

  • Has bronchodilation properties so can be used to treat individuals with status asthmaticus.
  • Less likely to elicit airway irritation symptoms such as coughing and laryngospasm compared to DrugLibrary/Desflurane Desflurane Private or Broken Links
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    and isoflurane due to low pungency.

Central Nervous System

  • Dose-related vasodilatory effects of cerebral vasculature so it increases cerebral blood flow and ICP.

Other

  • Known to produce uterine relaxation which can be used in specific cases such as retained placenta but can be detrimental during other procedures such as a D&C.

Indications 1

  • Used for induction and maintenance of general anesthesia.
  • Minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) is used to compare the potencies between various volatile agents.

Complications 1 2

  • Should not be used for anesthetic management in patients with known history of malignant hyperthermia or suspected susceptibility to malignant hyperthermia.
  • Increased risk of post-operative nausea and vomiting compared to intravenous anesthetic agents.

References

  1. Sullivan, P. (2012). Ottawa Anesthesia Primer. Echo Book Publishing ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  2. Eddington, T.L., Muco, E., Maani, C.V. (2023) Sevoflurane. StatPearls. ↩ ↩2 ↩3