Erika Šalčiūtė, Aurika Karbonskienė
Abstract
Target controlled infusion is a relatively new technique which enables the anaesthesiologist to target a constant blood concentration during total intravenous anaesthesia. The objective of this review is to take a look into the principles of target controlled infusion and the results of novel research comparing this technique with manually controlled infusion.We reviewed articles describing general pharmacokinetics of intravenous drugs and pharmacokinetic models used in target controlled infusion devices. We also reviewed the most recent research papers published between 2008 and 2013 investigating the efficiency of this method. Studies performed before 2007 had some controversial results, but this seems to be because of their high heterogeneity. More recent research, especially those using closed-loop systems, show many advantages of target controlled infusion in comparison with manually controlled infusion for total intravenous anaesthesia: increased satisfaction of anaesthesiologists and surgeons, less interventions during the anaesthesia, smaller doses of drugs used, increased stability of patient’s condition during the operation and less side effects after the operation. In conclusion, it is safe to say that target controlled infusion is a very promising technique and its usage in clinical practice will continue to increase.
Keyword(s): target controlled infusion (TCI), manually controlled infusion, total intravenous anaesthesia, propofol.
DOI: 10.5200/sm-hs.2014.029
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