COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF PROPOFOL AND PENTOBARBITAL ON NEUROLOGICOUTCOME AND CEREBRAL INFARCT SIZE AFTER TEMPORARY FOCAL ISCHEMIA IN THE RAT

Background: Although propofol is known to have effects on cerebral phy siology similar to the barbiturates, a direct comparison of the relati ve effects of these drugs on outcome from cerebral ischemia has not be en performed. The authors postulated that pentobarbital or propofol wo uld yield similar effects on neurologic and histologic outcome from te mporary focal ischemia in the rat. Methods: Wistar rats were anestheti zed with sufficient doses of pentobarbital (n = 20) or propofol (n = 2 0) to cause electroencephalographic burst suppression. The middle cere bral artery was then occluded for 75 min. Animals were awakened 4-6 h after onset of reperfusion and allowed to recover for 1 week, Neurolog ic function and infarct size were then assessed. Results: Relevant phy siologic values were similar between groups during ischemia and early reperfusion. No difference between groups was observed for severity of hemiparesis (P = 0.10). Total cerebral infarct volumes (median +/- qu artile deviation) were similar for the two groups (pentobarbital = 190 +/- 36 mm(3); propofol = 200 +/- 24 mm(3), P = 0.35). Conclusion: Neu rologic and histologic outcome were similar in pentobarbital or propof ol anesthetized rats undergoing temporary focal cerebral ischemia and a 1-week recovery interval.