title: The development of alfentanil infusions for cardiac anaesthesia.
abstract: Experience gained using alfentanil during cardiac surgery promoted the development of a variable-rate alfentanil infusion for general surgery that was titrated in such a way that post-operative ventilatory support was avoided. The empirical method of adjusting dosage to clinical response, as currently applied to inhalational anaesthesia, proved to be a useful experimental method of defining dosage schemes before adequate knowledge of the pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic variables of alfentanil was available.
mesh_terms: D015760:Alfentanil; D000769:Anesthesia, Inhalation; D000777:Anesthetics / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000601:surgery; D005283:Fentanyl / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D007262:Infusions, Intravenous
chemical_list: D000777:Anesthetics; D015760:Alfentanil; D005283:Fentanyl