Volatile sedation in sepsis: a promising therapeutic approach or a venture doomed to fail?

Martin Schläpfer; Beatrice Beck-Schimmer

doi:10.1016/j.bjao.2022.100021

Volatile sedation in sepsis: a promising therapeutic approach or a venture doomed to fail?

BJA Open. 2022 Jul 13:3:100021. doi: 10.1016/j.bjao.2022.100021. eCollection 2022 Sep.

Authors

Martin Schläpfer^{1

2}, Beatrice Beck-Schimmer^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Anaesthesiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
² Institute of Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.

Abstract

Preclinical strategies targeting sepsis often had a single target and could not be translated into the clinical setting. Volatile sedation modulates multiple aspects of inflammation and improves sepsis-related survival in animal models. Whether a similar effect can be achieved in humans is unclear. Only a prospective clinical trial will be able to answer this question. The implementation of such a study in times when volatile anaesthetics are the focus of attention because of their greenhouse effect and their carbon dioxide emission will be a challenge, even though the alternative, i.v. sedation, is still insufficiently investigated in this respect.

Keywords: isoflurane; long-term sedation; propofol; sepsis; sex differences; short-term sedation; survival; volatile sedation.

Publication types

Editorial