Inhalational anaesthetics and cerebral blood flow

All volatile anaesthestics depress cerebral metabolism, increase intracrani al pressure and contain the potential to increase cerebral blood flow. This potential is higher for halothane anaesthesia in comparison to isoflurane- , sevoflurane- and desflurane-anaesthesia and higher during nitrous oxide- in comparison to xenon- anaesthesia. Due to coupling of cerebral blood flow to a decreased cerebral metabolism, humans exhibit mostly no change or eve n a decrease of cerebral blood flow during anaesthesia with contemporary vo latile anaesthetics. During anaesthesia with volatile anaesthetics CO2-reac tivity is preserved, within concentrations up to 1 MAC also autoregulation of cerebral blood flow.