Tissue solubility of four volatile anesthetics in fresh and frozen tissue specimens from swine.

Objective: To determine tissue solubilities of desflurane, sevoflurane, enflurane, and halothane in swine and to evaluate the effects of freezing specimens on tissue solubility,

Sample Population: Arterial blood samples and specimens of brain, heart, liver, kidney, muscle, and subcutaneous fat from 5 healthy female adult Chinese Meishan pigs.

Procedure: Each tissue specimen was divided into 2 parts. One part was used to measure tissue-gas partition coefficients immediately after collection. The other part was frozen at -20 C for 6 days prior to determination of tissue-gas partition coefficients. Tissue-gas and blood-gas partition coefficients were measured by use of gas chromatography, and tissue-blood partition coefficients were calculated. Regression analysis was performed to determine whether fat-gas partition coefficients were correlated with lean tissue-gas partition coefficients.

Results: Tissue-gas and blood-gas partition coefficients of halothane were greater than those of enflurane followed by coefficients of sevoflurane and desflurane. However, the order of anesthetic agents with the greatest to smallest tissue-blood partition coefficients was sevoflurane, halothane, enflurane, and desflurane. Muscle-gas partition coefficients of sevoflurane and enflurane, liver-gas partition coefficients of desflurane and halothane, and the kidney-gas partition coefficient of enflurane were significantly greater in frozen specimens, compared with fresh specimens. Lean tissue-gas partition coefficients of all 4 volatile anesthetics correlated directly with fat-gas partition coefficients.

Conclusions And Clinical Relevance: The fat content of lean tissue is an important factor in determining the tissue solubility of volatile anesthetics. Freezing specimens before determination of tissue-gas partition coefficients may result in a false increase in tissue solubility.