The immune response to anesthesia: part 1

Abstract

Objective: To review the immune response to anesthesia including mechanical ventilation, inhaled anesthetic gases, and injectable anesthetics and sedatives.

Study design: Review.

Methods and databases: Multiple literature searches were performed using PubMed and Google Scholar from spring 2012 through fall 2013. Relevant anesthetic and immune terms were used to search databases without year published or species constraints. The online database for Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia and the Journal of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care were searched by issue starting in 2000 for relevant articles.

Conclusion: Recent research data indicate that commonly used volatile anesthetic agents, such as isoflurane and sevoflurane, may have a protective effect on vital organs. With the lung as the target organ, protection using an appropriate anesthetic protocol may be possible during direct pulmonary insults, including mechanical ventilation, and during systemic disease processes, such as endotoxemia, generalized sepsis, and ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Keywords: acute lung injury; anesthesia; immune; inflammation; remote lung injury; ventilator-induced lung injury.