Abstract

Objectives: Effects of propofol and etomidate induction on hemodynamic and endocrine stress response in patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery were investigated in this study.

Patients and Methods: After the approval of the local ethics committee was obtained, forty, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status II-III patients undergoing scheduled coronary artery bypass surgery were enrolled in the study. Patients were allocated randomly to receive either propofol or etomidate for anesthesia induction. Anesthesia was maintained in both groups with 1% isoflurane, 50% nitrous oxide and 50% oxygen.

Results: Hemodynamically, Group E was more stable than Group P following induction of anesthesia (p<0.05). There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of glucose response. There was a significant difference in Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels between the groups in control and t4 measurements (p<0.05). In group P, levels of blood cortisol significantly decreased after induction (p<0.05) but increased with Cardio Pulmonary By-pass (CPB). In group E, significant decrements ase in cortisol levels continued also during CPB, (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Etomidate may be preferred to propofol for the induction of anesthesia in CABG because of its hemodynamic stability. Etomidate inhibited cortisol secretion temporarily and this inhibition may be useful to prevent stress response due to CABG surgery.