Does propofol compared to sevoflurane affect heart rate variability and cardiac parasympathetic tone during anesthesia induction?
Propofol reduces cardiac parasympathetic tone depending on the depth of hypnosis during anesthesia induction, whereas sevoflurane has little or no effect.
Induction of anesthesia with propofol decreased blood pressure, entropy, and HF in a BIS-dependent manner, indicating that propofol reduces cardiac parasympathetic tone depending on the depth of hypnosis. Conversely, sevoflurane did not show the BIS-dependent decreases in heart rate, blood pressure, HF, and entropy, indicating that sevoflurane has little or no effect on cardiac parasympathetic tone.
Kanaya et al. (Wed,) studied this question.