Anaes Vivas · Volatile & inhalational agents
Data viva — isoflurane and the volatile agents: comparison table
A Final data viva — read the six-property comparison table for the four volatile agents; define MAC (potency), the blood-gas coefficient (speed of onset and recovery), the oil-gas coefficient (the Meyer-Overton lipid-solubility axis), metabolism percent (safety and organ handling), pungency (suitability for inhalational induction) and cost; apply the principles to agent selection, explaining why isoflurane is the cheap maintenance workhorse but not an induction agent, the least metabolised volatile, and a reasonable and safe choice in coronary disease once the steal debate is resolved.
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A comparison table sets out the four volatile anaesthetic agents across six properties: MAC in percent (halothane 0.75, isoflurane 1.15, sevoflurane 2.0, desflurane 6.0), blood-gas partition coefficient (halothane 2.4, isoflurane 1.4, sevoflurane 0.65, desflurane 0.42), oil-gas partition coefficient (halothane 224, isoflurane 91, sevoflurane 47, desflurane 19), metabolism percent (halothane 20, isoflurane 0.2, sevoflurane 3 to 5, desflurane 0.02), pungency, and cost. Read the table, explain what each property measures, and use it to justify isoflurane's place as the cheap, pungent, maintenance-only workhorse volatile.
References3ShowHide
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- [5]Rajmohan N, et al. Comparison of the effects of isoflurane and desflurane on the optic nerve sheath diameter in elderly patients undergoing robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomies in steep Trendelenburg position - A randomised controlled trial. Journal of Minimal Access Surgery, 2026.PMID 42085065
- [8]Somnuke P, et al. Effect of desflurane versus propofol on perioperative neurocognitive disorders in older adults undergoing major urological surgery: a randomized trial. BMC Geriatrics, 2026.PMID 42321629