Dexmedetomidine infusion is associated with enhanced renal function after thoracic surgery.

Study Objective: To test the hypothesis that dexmedetomidine, a selective alpha-2 agonist, enhances urine flow rate and perioperative renal function, a post hoc analysis was conducted on a recently completed study of dexmedetomidine used as an adjunct to epidural analgesia after thoracotomy.

Design: Post hoc analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial.

Setting: Tertiary-care university medical center.

Propofol suppresses the cortical somatosensory evoked potential in rats.

Unlabelled: The dose-response curve for the effect of volatile anesthetics on the somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) is well described, but for propofol, the large dose segment of the curve is undefined. We describe the effect of increasing plasma concentrations of propofol on cortical SEPs in 18 rats. After surgical preparation under ketamine anesthesia, a remifentanil infusion was begun at 2.