title: Is nitrous oxide safe for bone marrow harvest?
abstract: Patients with non-Hodgkins lymphoma undergoing autologous bone marrow harvest were studied in a prospective, randomized fashion. All patients received a general anesthetic consisting of intravenous thiopental, fentanyl, and vecuronium and were ventilated with oxygen and isoflurane. Group I (19) patients also were ventilated with nitrous oxide (70%) whereas patients in Group II (19) did not receive nitrous oxide. Bone marrow samples were obtained at the beginning and end of the harvest. Viability of bone marrow mononuclear cells was assessed with a colony-forming unit-granulocyte macrophage (CFU-GM) assay, CFU-GM growth is a marker for myeloid progenitor cells and is dependent on intact deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis. Rate of neutrophil engraftment after autologous bone marrow transplantation was also studied. Both groups of patients were statistically similar in age, weight, anesthetic duration, CFU-GM counts at both sample draws, and the time for successful engraftment. There appears to be no difference in bone marrow viability as assayed by both CFU-GM colony growth and engraftment in human bone marrow exposed to a general anesthetic with nitrous oxide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, California.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lederhaas
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Brock-Utne
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Negrin
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Brodsky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000758:Anesthesia; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009609:Nitrous Oxide / Q000009:adverse effects; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D009609:Nitrous Oxide