OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to clarify the clinical efficacy of landiolol, a selective beta(1)-blocker, in patients developing tachycardia during anesthesia.

DESIGN

A prospective, randomized, and placebo-controlled study.

SETTING

A single university hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients undergoing resection of intracranial or maxillofacial tumors under general anesthesia.

INTERVENTIONS

Intravenous bolus administration of landiolol.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Patients with heart rates exceeding 90 beats/min for more than 5 minutes received an intravenous bolus dose of landiolol. These patients who developed tachycardia were randomized into 4 groups receiving landiolol in the dose of 0, 0.1, 0.2, or 0.3 mg/kg. Heart rate and blood pressure were recorded before drug injection and 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 minutes after the injection. Heart rate was significantly reduced with each dose of landiolol compared with the placebo group between 3 and 20 minutes after drug injection. The lowest heart rate was 93 +/- 4, 80 +/- 8, 79 +/- 8, and 77 +/- 6 beats/min (mean +/- standard deviation) in the landiolol 0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.3 mg/kg groups, respectively. On the other hand, reduction of blood pressure was not as remarkable as that of heart rate. Landiolol, 0.1 and 0.2 mg/kg, did not significantly reduce systolic or diastolic blood pressure during the study period, although significant reduction of blood pressure was observed in the landiolol 0.3-mg/kg group between 5 and 10 minutes after drug injection.

CONCLUSION

The results showed that bolus administration of landiolol was effective in the treatment of tachycardia during anesthesia in surgical patients. Landiolol was more efficacious in reducing heart rate than blood pressure.