A Model for Anesthetic Washout During Recovery in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit

Utah State University

Hypercapnia with hyperventilation during emergence from anesthesia has been shown to reduce emergence time, yet little is known about how the subsequent recovery in the post anesthesia care unit (PACU) is affected. A mathematical model has been developed to investigate how inhaled anesthetic agents wash out of patients during recovery in order to demonstrate any difference that hypercapnia and hyperventilation during emergence might have on recovery.