Nitrous oxide does not induce myocardial ischemia in patients with ischemic heart disease and poor ventricular function.

Despite evidence from animal experiments to the contrary, nitrous oxide (N2O) reportedly does not induce myocardial ischemia when used as an adjunct to fentanyl anesthesia in patients with coronary artery disease who have well-preserved left ventricular (LV) function. However, the incidence of ischemia with N2O administration in similar patients with poor LV function may be different. The effects of N2O on segmental LV function, as determined by two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography, changes in the ST-segment of the electrocardiogram were compared with the effects of an equal concentration of nitrogen (N2) (crossover design) in 70 patients who required elective coronary artery bypass grafting. Of these patients, 24% had left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) less than or equal to 40%. Myocardial ischemia was diagnosed in 14 patients during the study: four while awake, seven during induction of anesthesia and tracheal intubation, and four during the remainder of the study (one during N2O and three during 100% oxygen; one patient had two distinct periods of ischemia). No value for LVEF could be found that would distinguish between patients who did or did not have ischemia during the study. Patients treated with beta-adrenergic blocking drugs preoperatively were less likely to develop ischemia (P less than 0.05). Preoperative calcium channel blockers made no such differences. Onset of ischemia was not closely associated with hemodynamic changes. Thus, N2O does not induce clinically detectable myocardial ischemia in patients who have coronary artery disease, and poor LV function in situations in which the effects of deepening anesthetic depth and mild depression of global myocardial function are deemed desirable or harmless.