[Dosage problems of sodium nitroprusside (author's transl)].

Sodium nitroprusside has proved a useful completion of anaesthesiologist's armament. Nevertheless there still exist some doubts concerning correct dosage. This uncertainity is aggravated by communications in literature about fatal outcomes of hypotensions induced with this drug. For the patient's safety, we recommend not to exceed an infusion rate of 15mcg/kg/minute or a total of 1.5-3mg/kg irrespective of the time of administration. In any case the development of metabolic acidosis or the occurence of tachyphylaxis or resistance should be a strong argument for discontinuing nitroprusside and changing to an other method of hypotensive anaesthesia. A useful aid is the control of infusion rate by the IVAC-531-machine.