[Serum and urinary inorganic fluoride levels after prolonged inhalation of sevoflurane in man].

The serum and urinary concentrations of inorganic fluoride were measured before and after sevoflurane anesthesia in ten patients without renal disease, who underwent surgeries lasting for 13.4 +/- 0.9 hours. The mean concentration of serum inorganic fluoride reached a maximal value of 42.5 +/- SE mumol.liter-1 at the end of anesthesia. However, the serum inorganic fluoride concentration increased over 50 mumol.liter-1 which is called "nephrotoxic threshold" in five of ten patients. A positive correlation was found between serum inorganic fluoride concentration and anesthetic dose. The largest urinary excretion of inorganic fluoride was 1804 +/- SE mumol.day-1 in the first postoperative day and the excretion decreased rapidly thereafter. We conclude that while nephrotoxicity was not demonstrated from biochemical data in this study, prolonged inhalation of sevoflurane (13.4 +/- 0.9 hours) increases serum inorganic fluoride concentration during and after the inhalation which may influence renal function.