Comparison of sevoflurane and propofol anaesthetic regimes in respect to the release of troponin I and cystatin C in off-pump myocardial revascularisation: a randomised controlled trial

Objective. Sevoflurane has been used in cardiac surgery because of its protective effects on the myocardium from ischaemic injury. We wanted to test the hypothesis that sevoflurane has beneficial effects on the heart and kidneys in comparison to propofol. Methods. We conducted a randomised controlled study, with balanced randomization blocked by sex. The participants were 62 patients undergoing off-pump myocardial revascularization (44 men and 18 women), who did not have a myocardial infarction less than 24 hours before the start of the operation and who had normal serum values of troponin I preoperatively. The surgery and the measurements were conducted according to the same protocol for both groups. Propofol was used for the induction of anaesthesia in both groups; anaesthesia was continued with either propofol or sevoflurane. Troponin I and cystatin C plasma concentrations were determined in eight consecutive blood samples, starting before induction of anaesthesia and ending 48 hours after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). The data were log-transformed and analysed using analysis of variance. Results. We observed a clear and highly statistically significant effect of time for troponin I (p