BACKGROUND: The requisite anesthetic concentration of sevoflurane required to obtain adequate sedation when sufficient analgesics are supplied has not been determined. The purpose of this study was to determine the requisite age-associated concentration of sevoflurane to obtain an adequate level of anesthesia during combined epidural-general anesthesia by bispectral index (BIS) monitoring. METHODS: Twenty-seven elective abdominal surgery patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I-II) were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups of more or less than 60 years of age. We investigated the concentration of sevoflurane required to obtain an adequate sedation level during combined epidural-general anesthesia, maintaining the BIS value between 40 and 60. RESULTS: The requisite sevoflurane concentration required to keep the BIS value at 40-60 was not stable during surgery. In the younger group, the maximum concentration of sevoflurane needed during surgery was 1.95 +/- 0.14 (95% confidence interval: 1.87-2.10) vol%, while it was 1.54 +/- 0.44 (95% confidence interval: 1.27-1.80) vol% in the older group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The requisite concentration of sevoflurane required with combined epidural-general anesthesia was 2.5 vol% for the younger group and 2.0 vol% for the older group as determined by BIS monitoring. We believe that these percentages are sufficient to avoid awareness during surgery with adequate analgesia.
Analgesia ; Analgesics ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Epidural ; Anesthetics, Inhalation ; Humans ; Methyl Ethers