Serum bromide after general anaesthesia with halothane.

Serum bromide was determined in 30 patients during the first few postoperative days after general anaesthesia with halothane. The material comprised a group of younger patients (19-50 years) and a group of elderly patients (greater than 70 years), neither of whom received thiomebumal induction, and a group of younger patients (19-50 years) who received thiomebumal induction. The changes in serum bromide were independent of age and induction with barbiturate, and a maximum rise in serum bromide was found most often 2-3 days after the anaesthesia. All groups showed a rise in serum bromide to therapeutically sedative concentrations, and a significant correlation was found between MAC-hours halothane exposure and serum bromide.