On the horns of a dilemma: choosing total intravenous anaesthesia or volatile anaesthesia
Details
Publication Year 2022-09,Volume 129,Issue #3,Page 284-289
Journal Title
British Journal of Anaesthesia
Publication Type
Commentary
Abstract
There are two established techniques of delivering general anaesthesia: propofol-based total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) and volatile agent-based inhaled anaesthesia. Both techniques are offered as standard of care and have an established safety track record lasting more than 30 years. However, it is not currently known whether the choice of anaesthetic technique results in a fundamentally different patient experience or affects early, intermediate-term, and longer-term postoperative outcomes. This editorial comments on a recently published study that suggests that inhaled volatile anaesthesia might be associated with fewer postoperative surgical complications than propofol-based TIVA for patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery. We consider the strengths and limitations of the study, place these findings in the context of the broader evidence, and discuss how the current controversies regarding anaesthetic technique can be resolved, thereby helping to bring precision medicine into the modern practice of perioperative care.
Keywords
Anesthesia, General; Anesthesia, Intravenous/methods; *Anesthetics; *Anesthetics, Inhalation/adverse effects; Anesthetics, Intravenous; Humans; Postoperative Complications; *Propofol; Tiva; inhalational anaesthesia; postoperative outcomes; precision medicine; propofol; total intravenous anaesthesia; volatile anaesthesia
Department(s)
Anaesthetics
PubMed ID
35835606
Terms of Use/Rights Notice
Refer to copyright notice on published article.


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