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Retrospective study of post-anesthetic mild liver disorder associated with inhalation anesthetics, halothane and enflurane

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Abstract

The incidence of post-anesthetic mild liver disorder (PAMLD) was compared between 928 patients administered halothane and 1,766 patients administered enflurane. They were selected from 19,504 surgical patients administered general anesthesia at Kyushu University Hospital over the past 6 years and 4 months. They had had normal liver function before operation and had no history of blood transfusion. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels exceeding 70 IU·l −1 within 180 days after operation were found in 226 patients in the halothane group (24.4%), and in 250 patients in the enflurane group (14.2%) (P<0.01). Both maximum ALT levels and duration of ALT elevation were higher and longer in the halothane group (P<0.01). These results suggest that, not only in the development of fulminant hepatitis but also in PAMLD, enflurane is less hepatotoxic than halothane.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Blood Transfusion Survice, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Shoichi Inaba

  2. Department of Operating Room, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Yasuhiro Umeki & Shosuke Takahashi

  3. Department of Medical Informatics, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Kouhei Akazawa & Yoshiaki Nose

  4. Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Kyushu University, 3-1-1, Maidashi, 812, Higashi, Fukuoka, Japan

    Yoshiro Sakaguchi, Junichi Yoshitake & Yoshio Hayashi

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  1. Yoshiro Sakaguchi
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  2. Shoichi Inaba
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  3. Yasuhiro Umeki
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  4. Shosuke Takahashi
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  5. Junichi Yoshitake
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  6. Yoshio Hayashi
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  7. Kouhei Akazawa
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  8. Yoshiaki Nose
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Sakaguchi, Y., Inaba, S., Umeki, Y. et al. Retrospective study of post-anesthetic mild liver disorder associated with inhalation anesthetics, halothane and enflurane. J Anesth 6, 183–191 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/s0054020060183

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s0054020060183

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