Mucociliary flow in the trachea during anesthesia with enflurane, ether, nitrous oxide, and morphine.

Tracheal mucociliary flow rates in dogs were measured with a radioactive droplet technique during thiopental anesthesia, and subsequently during enflurane, either, and nitrous oxide-morphine anesthesia on different occasions. Enflurane, at 0.6, 1.2, 1.8 MAC, produced a dose-dependent, reversible depression of mucociliary flow equal to that previously reported for halothane. Nitrous oxide-halothane and nitrous oxide-morphine depressed mucociliary flow to the same extent as halothane at equivalent MAC levels. Ether did not depress mucociliary flow significantly from the thiopental control at any MAC level.