Reduction in Resting End-Expiratory Position of the Respiratory System with Induction of Anesthesia and Neuromuscular Paralysis

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Abstract
Resting end-expiratory position (REEP) of the respiratory system was monitored continuously by spirometric recording in 11 patients during transition from consciousness to thiopental hypnosis and following subsequent of succinylcholine administration. REEP decreased following thiopental and was little affected by subsequent relaxant in most patients. A fall in REEP was obsreved within 30 s after thiopental, and a lower, stable level of REEP was attained within .apprx. 15-45 s. Mean volume of gas expelled from the lungs was 189 ml BTPS. Evidently, the previously extensively documented decrease in functional residual capacity associated with anesthesia occurs immediately on induction and requires a short, but finite, time for apparent stabilization.