Sevoflurane does not increase intracranial pressure in hyperventilated dogs.

We have measured the effects of 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC (minimum alveolar concentration) end-tidal concentrations of sevoflurane on intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), central venous pressure and heart rate in hypocapnic dogs (PaCO2 3.2-3.7 kPa) and compared the data with those produced by equi-MAC concentrations of enflurane and halothane. Enflurane and halothane caused small but significant increases in ICP at 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 MAC, but there were no changes with sevoflurane. However, sevoflurane caused a considerable decrease in MAP with consequent decrease in CPP. We conclude that sevoflurane should be a suitable agent for neuroanaesthesia and is preferable to either enflurane or halothane.