Original article
English
Abdelmutaleb B. Issa, Hosen M. Kreba
Department of Anaesthesiology, Tripoli Medical Centre Tripoli, Libya
JMJ 2010, Vol.10, No.2:96-100
Abstract
The costs of drugs used for anaesthesia constitute only a small fraction of the total health care cost, they account for only 5 to 8 % of total inpatients spending, however any opportunity to diminish costs is worth being considered. The aim of our study was to compare the consumption of particular volatile anaesthetics in terms of different anaesthetic techniques (high flow, low flow and minimal flow anaesthesia) in Libyan patients. The prospective observational study was undertaken in the Department of Anaesthesia of Tripoli Medical Centre during general anaesthetic procedures lasting for more than 1 hour in 140 adult patients of ASA I-II physical status. The following parameters were recorded at 10 minute intervals during the maintenance stage of anaesthesia: total gas flow, flows of oxygen and nitrous oxide, and consumption of volatile anaesthetics. According to our observations the hourly costs of general anaesthesia during the maintenance stage were as follows: a) During high flow anaesthesia: – 2.2 LD with halothane, 5.3 LD with isoflurane and 28.3 LD with sevoflurane; b) During low flow anaesthesia: – 1.32 LD with isoflurane and 7.2 LD with sevoflurane; c) During minimal flow anaesthesia – 0.8 LD with isoflurane and 4.4 LD with sevoflurane.
Keywords: Halothane, Sevoflurane, Isoflurane, Low flow anaesthesia, Minimal flow anaesthesia, Cost saving.
Link/DOI: http://www.jmj.org.ly/images/stories/summer2010/96.pdf