Canadian Journal of Anesthesia, Vol 2, 308-318, Copyright © 1955 by Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society

Ketosis of Anaesthesia

¹ Manchester Royal Infirmary and University of Manchester, Manchester, England

In summary it was found in a study of the urines of patients after operation that ketosis did not have the features of a toxic phenomenon produced by the anaesthetic. A review of the various physiological factors concerned, however, suggested that this disturbance must indicate a depletion of the liver's stores of glycogen. The factors which might be responsible seemed to be starvation, hyperadrenalinaemia caused by fear, hyperglycaemia due to the anaesthetic itself. This work has, however, tended to indicate that none of these factors will wholly explain the changes observed. It therefore seems probable that the explanation must he in the increase in the fat content of the liver to which the so-called toxic anaesthetic gives rise. It has been quite clearly shown that the ketosis of anaesthesia is an entity apart from the ketosis of diabetes. An alteration in our outlook on choice of anaesthetic in the diabetic is therefore required.

Note:

Presented at the Annual Meeting, Canadian Anaesthetists' Society, Toronto, Ont,, June 20–21–22, 1955