JOURNAL HOME CME HOME THIS MONTH PAST ISSUES ETOC COLLECTIONS
AUTHORS REVIEWERS EDITORIAL BOARD FEEDBACK RSS HELP
A&A International Anesthesia Research Society
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Anesth Analg 1986; 65:15-20
© 1986 International Anesthesia Research Society
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a colleague
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kanto, J.
Right arrow Articles by Hovi-Viander, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kanto, J.
Right arrow Articles by Hovi-Viander, M.

Midazolam as an Intravenous Induction Agent in the Elderly

A Clinical and Pharmacokinetic Study

Jussi Kanto, MD, Leena Aaltonen, MSc, Jaakko-Juhani Himberg, MD, PhD, and Marja Hovi-Viander, MD

Received from the Department of Anaesthesiology, Turku University Central Hospital, Turku; the Department of Pharmacology, Turku University, Turku; and the FRC Blood Transfusion Service and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Helsinki University, Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

Midazolam, the first benzodiazepine derivative with water-soluble salts, was studied as an induction agent in general anesthesia for the elderly. In group 1 (n = 14), 5 or 10 mg oral diazepam was used as premedication, but in group 2 (n = 9), both oral (W mg dixyrazin as a night-time sedative) and intramuscular (0.01 mg/kg atropine + 1 mg/kg meperidine) premedicants were used. Serum concentrations of benzodiazepines were determined using both gas-liquid chromatographic (unchanged midazolam) and radioreceptor assays (binding equivalents of benzodiazepines plus their active metabolites). In general, midazolam, 0.15 mg/kg, intravenously resulted in smooth induction of anesthesia, although the time required for induction was rather long and a sudden but transient decrease in blood pressure was found in a significant number of patients. The course of anesthesia was otherwise satisfactory. A marked amnesic effect was observed, especially when diazepam was used as premedication. The pharmacokinetic parameters based on gas-liquid chromatographic measurements were quite comparable with those in young, healthy persons published earlier. In both groups, the binding equivalents measured with radioreceptor assay (reflecting total benzodiazepine activity) were higher than the levels of unchanged midazolam determined with gas-liquid chromatography. The relatively low dose of 0.15 mg/kg of midazolam needed for anesthetic induction in the elderly indicates not pharmacokinetic, but pharmacodynamic, alterations in older patients. We conclude that midazolam is a new intravenous induction agent for use in the elderly, but careful titration of the dosage according to the response of the patient is required. Diazepam premedication prior to midazolam causes a marked anterograde amnesic effect.

Key Words: HYPNOTICS, BENZODIAZEPINES—midazolam • INDUCTION, ANESTHESIA—midazolam






Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins Anesthesia & Analgesia® is published for the International Anesthesia Research Society® by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins with the assistance of Stanford University Libraries' HighWire Press®. Copyright 2006 by the International Anesthesia Research Society. Online ISSN: 1526-7598   Print ISSN: 0003-2999 HighWire Press
Copyright © 1986 by the International Anesthesia Research Society.