Key result
Inhaled 50% nitrous oxide increases cerebral perfusion pressure and lowers zero flow pressure in healthy volunteers.
Why the study?
Does inhaled nitrous oxide 50% alter estimated cerebral perfusion pressure and zero flow pressure in healthy volunteers?
Does inhaled nitrous oxide 50% alter estimated cerebral perfusion pressure and zero flow pressure in healthy volunteers?
Inhaled nitrous oxide 50% increases cerebral perfusion pressure and decreases zero flow pressure in healthy individuals, suggesting its vasomotor effects predominate in determining effective downstream pressure.
Supports further study of nitrous oxide cerebral effects; should not change anesthesia practice based on healthy volunteer data.
The role of vascular tone in determining cerebral perfusion pressure is increasingly being appreciated. It has been suggested that zero flow pressure, the arterial pressure at which blood flow ceases, represents the effective downstream pressure of the cerebral circulation. Nitrous oxide is a cerebral vasodilator and may therefore decrease zero flow pressure and increase cerebral perfusion pressure. However, these effects may be opposed by the increase in intracranial blood volume produced by cerebral vasodilation. We studied eight healthy volunteers at normocapnia and studied the effects of the inhalation of nitrous oxide 50% on estimated cerebral perfusion pressure and zero flow pressure using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography. We found that nitrous oxide 50% significantly increased estimated cerebral perfusion pressure (p = 0.03), whilst decreasing zero flow pressure (p = 0.01). These results suggest that the vasomotor effects of nitrous oxide predominate in determining the effective downstream pressure of the cerebral circulation in healthy individuals.
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Hancock et al. (2005) studied Healthy (n=8). Inhaled nitrous oxide was evaluated on Estimated cerebral perfusion pressure and zero flow pressure (p=0.03 and 0.01 respectively). Inhaled nitrous oxide 50% significantly increased estimated cerebral perfusion pressure (p=0.03) and decreased zero flow pressure (p=0.01) in healthy volunteers.
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