Potentiation of general anesthesia by local blockade of the peripheral vagus nerve

TY - CONF

T1 - Potentiation of general anesthesia by local blockade of the peripheral vagus nerve

AU - Arvin, Simon

AU - Glud, AN

AU - Yonehara, Keisuke

PY - 2023/11

Y1 - 2023/11

N2 - Background. General anesthetics are used extensively in modern medicine, but the associated cardiopulmonary risks and chronic neural effects pose a growing issue to aging patient populations. Anesthetic premedication presents a promising method to reduce the risks associated with high-dose general anesthesia.Methods. The present study was designed to probe the anesthetic sparing properties of acute vagus nerve blockade in mice. To this end, we treated the vagus nerve with either bupivacaine or saline (control) via a pre-installed neck catheter one hour prior to isoflurane gas anesthesia. We assessed the anesthetic potency by computing the anesthetic induction time using a deep learning-based method for pose estimation.Results. When preceded by vagus nerve blockade, the induction time of isoflurane gas anesthesia decreased by 22% (-15 seconds, P < 0.05), consistent with anesthetic potentiation. In addition, vagus nerve blockade exhibited hemodynamic stabilizing effects. Potential confounders, such as age, had minor significance.Conclusion. Vagus nerve blockade may be an effective general anesthetic adjuvant with hemodynamic stabilizing effects. Further research is needed to confirm the findings presented in this preliminary study, e.g., using targeted vagus nerve blockade and extensive hemodynamic monitoring.

AB - Background. General anesthetics are used extensively in modern medicine, but the associated cardiopulmonary risks and chronic neural effects pose a growing issue to aging patient populations. Anesthetic premedication presents a promising method to reduce the risks associated with high-dose general anesthesia.Methods. The present study was designed to probe the anesthetic sparing properties of acute vagus nerve blockade in mice. To this end, we treated the vagus nerve with either bupivacaine or saline (control) via a pre-installed neck catheter one hour prior to isoflurane gas anesthesia. We assessed the anesthetic potency by computing the anesthetic induction time using a deep learning-based method for pose estimation.Results. When preceded by vagus nerve blockade, the induction time of isoflurane gas anesthesia decreased by 22% (-15 seconds, P < 0.05), consistent with anesthetic potentiation. In addition, vagus nerve blockade exhibited hemodynamic stabilizing effects. Potential confounders, such as age, had minor significance.Conclusion. Vagus nerve blockade may be an effective general anesthetic adjuvant with hemodynamic stabilizing effects. Further research is needed to confirm the findings presented in this preliminary study, e.g., using targeted vagus nerve blockade and extensive hemodynamic monitoring.

M3 - Poster

T2 - Society for Neuroscience (SfN) 2023

Y2 - 11 November 2023 through 15 November 2023

ER -