Effect of a Low Concentration of Sevoflurane Combined With Propofol on Transcranial Electrical Stimulation Motor Evoked Potential: A Case Series

Transcranial electrical motor evoked potential (TCeMEP) is used to monitor the integrity of intraoperative motor function. Total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) is the preferred method because its effect on MEP is relatively smaller than volatile anesthetics. However, maintaining the balanced anesthesia in long-time surgery using TIVA is challenging and may sometime cause problems including body movement during microsurgery. Such problems can be avoided by intraoperative anesthesia management using a mixture of propofol and a low concentration of sevoflurane. We recorded TCeMEP under a mixture of propofol and low concentration of sevoflurane anesthesia in three cases of neurosurgery. Anesthesia was induced with a 5.0 µg/mL target-controlled infusion of propofol and 0.6 mg/kg rocuronium. General anesthesia was maintained by propofol and 0.1-0.25 µg/kg/min remifentanil infusion. After the recording of control TCeMEP, sequential inhalation of 0.2 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) and 0.5 MAC of sevoflurane was performed. The duration of each sevoflurane inhalation was 10 minutes, and the MACs were adjusted by the patient’s age. In our cases, the combination of propofol and 0.2 MAC sevoflurane suppressed the amplitude of TCeMEP to 38.0±21.7% (379.8±212.0 µV), but the amplitude was high enough for evaluation of motor function monitoring. On the other hand, the combination of 0.5 MAC sevoflurane greatly decreased the amplitude of TCeMEP to 6.3±6.0% (71.9±66.9 µV) resulting in less than 150 µV, and it was difficult to record the change in TCeMEP amplitude over time. The combination of 0.2 MAC sevoflurane with TIVA might enable TCeMEP monitoring with TIVA.