Effects of enflurane on contractile response of canine trachealis muscle.

The effect of enflurane anesthesia on bronchomotor tone was studied in 15 dogs, using isolated tracheal segments in situ. In six animals, the changes of tracheal tension in response to changing enflurane concentration were continuously measured while keeping tidal volume, respiratory frequency, and end-tidal PCO2 constant. In nine other dogs, the contractile response to a brief period of apnea was assessed in three planes of anesthesia, namely 0% (baseline anesthesia with pentobarbital), 1%, and 2% of inspired enflurane concentration. In addition, effects of hypercapnia, hypoxia, and changing tidal volume were also examined in three of these nine animals. Furthermore, the magnitude of contraction elicited by electrical stimulation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) was determined at each depth of anesthesia in six animals. Increasing enflurane concentrations invariably decreased resting tracheal tension as well as the magnitude of contraction in response to apnea and RLN stimulation in a dose-dependent manner. These data suggest that enflurane not only decreases unstimulated canine bronchomotor tone but also inhibits contraction produced by various stimuli used in the present experiments.