Etomidate Infusion and Moderately High Dose Fentanyl in Major Vascular Surgery

Prolonged Myoclonus after Etomidate Anesthesia

“…Our patient received 350 mg etomidate (0.018 mg.kg-'.min I ) and 0.475 mg fentanyl, which are within the ranges of etomidate and fentanyl used by Florence (16) and Fragen et al (17). However he experienced myoclonus for a prolonged period during his emergence from etomidate anesthesia.…”

“…All patients had uneventful stays in the recovery room. Florence (16) reported a total dose of 200-546 mg etomidate (0.0182 mgkg-l-min-') and 1.5-3.0 mg fentanyl during major vascular surgery. Postoperatively these patients remained drowsy for several hours but were rousable.…”

“…This technique has been used successfully without incident in gynecological (14), general (15), and major vascular surgery (16). Constant infusion doses range from 0.018 mgkg -'.min-' (16) to 0.02 mgkg '.min-' Because etomidate has also been reported to lower cerebral blood flow and metabolism (18) it has been considered advantageous for neurosurgical procedures.…”