Influence of Controlled Respiration on Dosage of Thiopentone and D-Tubocurarine Chloride in Abdominal Surgery

Abstract

In using the anaesthetic sequence D-tubocurarine chloride/thiopentone/nitrous oxide/oxygen, an impres sion was formed that smaller doses of barbiturate were required when the patient was rendered apnoeic and respiration was manually controlled than when the respiratory excursion was only aided or spontaneous respiration was thought sufficient to ensure full oxy g?nation (Gray and Rees, 1952). Thiopentone and D-tubocurarine chloride being drugs whose dosage can be accurately measured, it was decided to find out whether manual control of respiration actually does reduce the amount of thiopentone required to produce narcosis.