QUEBEC CITY—New research has quantified the impressions of many clinicians regarding volatile general anesthesia: The risk for prolonged time to tracheal extubation is significantly lower with desflurane than with sevoflurane or isoflurane.
The systematic review and meta-analysis of more than 5,000 patients concluded that desflurane resulted in a 65% relative reduction in prolonged extubation compared with sevoflurane and a 78% relative reduction versus isoflurane.
“Prolonged times to