title: Oxygen consumption in fetal lambs after maternal administration of sodium pentobarbital.
abstract: To determine whether anesthesia lowers fetal oxygen consumption, sodium pentobarbital (10 mg/kg) was given intravenously to seven chronically instrumented pregnant ewes (123 to 144 days' gestation). Oxygen consumption fell by 23% in association with a rise in fetal vascular PO2. Fetal breathing movements were abolished for 50.5 minutes, while the number of fetal heart rate accelerations fell by 80% in the first 30 minutes after pentobarbital injection. It is concluded that anesthesia reduces fetal oxygen consumption, probably by abolishing skeletal muscle activity, and perhaps also by reducing cerebral metabolic rate.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Rurak
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Taylor
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011817:Rabbits; D012119:Respiration / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D010424:Pentobarbital; D010100:Oxygen