Effects of propofol, desflurane, and sevoflurane on respiratory functions following endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal pituitary surgery: a prospective randomized study

BACKGROUND: General anesthesia with intravenous or inhalation anesthetics reduces respiratory functions. We investigated the effects of propofol, desflurane, and sevoflurane on postoperative respiratory function tests. METHODS: This single-center randomized controlled study was performed in a university hospital from October 2015 to February 2017. Ninety patients scheduled for endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal pituitary surgery were randomly categorized into either of these three groups: propofol (n = 30, the Group TIVA), desflurane (n = 30, the Group D) or sevoflurane (n = 30, the Group S). We analyzed the patients before, after, and 24 h following surgery, to identify the following parameters: forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) %, forced vital capacity (FVC) %, FEV1/FVC, and arterial blood gases (ABG). Furthermore, we also recorded the intraoperative dynamic lung compliance and airway resistance values. RESULTS: We did not find any significant differences in FEV1 values (primary outcome) among the groups (P = 0.336). There was a remarkable reduction in the FEV1 and FVC values in all groups postoperatively relative to the baseline (P < 0.001). The FVC, FEV1/FVC, ABG analysis, compliance, and airway resistance were similar among the groups. Intraoperative dynamic compliance values were lower at the 1st and 2nd hours than those immediately after intubation (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated that propofol, desflurane, and sevoflurane reduced FEV1 and FVC values postoperatively, without any significant differences among the drugs.