Sodium nitroprusside-induced hypotension and renal blood flow.

Hypotension produced by sodium nitroprusside during halothane anaesthesia in a series of experiments in dogs was accompanied by the maintenance of renal blood flow. Renal blood flow was maintained at levels of systemic pressure at which flow is customarily reduced in man and experimental animals. The significance of this observation is the possibility that sodium nitroprusside has a protective effect on the kidney, not only in states of deliberate hypotension, but in other low flow states where renal perfusion and function may be compromised.