A Comparative Study of Halothane and Halopropane Anesthesia

Abstract

Two fluorinated hydrocarbon anesthetics, halopropane and halothane, were compared in dogs during spontaneous and controlled respiration. Anesthetic equipotency was defined in terms of the minimal alveolar anesthetic concentration required to prevent muscular response to a painful stimulus. Halopropane was a less potent anesthetic than halothane, with a narrower range between minimal anesthetic concentration and that required to produce respiratory or circulatory failure. Arterial pressure and cardiac output became depressed at relatively lower alveolar halopropane concentrations. Respiratory arrest also occurred at lower halopropane concentrations. With neither agent did the dogs demonstrate a significant tendency to compensate for increasing anesthetic depression.