Desflurane Anesthesia in a Morbidly Obese Patient with Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea

A 33-year-old morbidly obese patient (body mass index = 59.5 kg x m(-2)) with severe obstructive sleep apnea was scheduled to undergo osteosynthesis of right radial, ulnar and femoral fractures under general anesthesia. Awake intubation under conscious sedation using fantanyl and midazolam was performed by the Pentax-AWS Airwayscope. By using desflurane under continuous infusion of remifentanil 0.2-0.5 μg x kg(-1) x min(-1), BIS values were maintained between 40 and 60 during the surgery. Although duration of surgery was long (430 minutes), the times from discontinuation of the anesthetic drug to eye opening and extubation were 82 seconds and 8.5 minutes, respectively. Respiratory depression was minimal during postoperative period. In this case desflurane was safely used in a morbidly obese patient with severe obstructive sleep apnea.