Mass-spectrometric monitoring of the stress reaction during anesthesia

Clinical testing data for a mass-spectrometric method of estimating the patient’s stress reaction to an injury done during anesthesia are presented. The essence of the method is monitoring the respiratory coefficient, which is defined as ratio N of the expiratory mass concentration of CO₂ to the inspiratory mass concentration of O₂ at each breathing cycle. For on-line monitoring of N, an electron ionization mass spectrometer connected to the breathing circuit of an inhalational anesthesia machine is used. Estimates of the anesthesia adequacy obtained with this method are compared with those obtained with the method that analyzes induced acoustic encephalographic potentials. It is shown that the method suggested is more sensitive to the level of the patient’s stress reaction during anesthesia than the induced potential method.