Volatile Anesthetic Attenuates Phagocyte Function and Worsens Bacterial Loads in Wounds.

Background: Previously we have shown that volatile anesthetic isoflurane attenuated neutrophil recruitment and phagocytosis in mouse sepsis and skin inflammation models. The objectives of this study were to test ex vivo function of neutrophils in patients who underwent cardiac catheterization under volatile anesthesia versus intravenous anesthesia (IA), and also to assess the effect of anesthesia on surgical site infections (SSIs) using mouse model to understand the clinical relevance of anesthesia-induced immunomodulation.

Methods: Whole blood from patients who underwent cardiac catheterization procedures either by volatile anesthesia or IA was collected and subjected to phagocytosis assay and a lipopolysaccharide-induced tumor necrosis factor-α assay.

Pediatric Perioperative Stress Responses and Anesthesia.

Surgical stress responses cause an array of endocrinological, metabolic and immunological changes in patients. The landmark studies in the 1980s showed that adequate anesthesia dramatically improved the outcomes of pediatric surgical patients by attenuating stress hormonal responses, pointing out the harm of 'inadequate' anesthesia. Subsequent studies questioned the role of administering very high-dose anesthetics to further attenuate stress responses.

The effect of different anesthetics on tumor cytotoxicity by natural killer cells.

A number of retrospective studies have suggested that choice of anesthetic drugs during surgical tumor resection might affect tumor recurrence/metastasis, or outcome of patients. The recent study showed that volatile anesthetics-based general anesthesia was associated with the worse outcomes than intravenous anesthetics-based general anesthesia. However, the underlying mechanism is yet to be determined.