A desflurane and fentanyl dosing regimen for wake-up testing during scoliosis surgery: Implications for the time-course of emergence from anesthesia.

This study provides evidence that desflurane-fentanyl-based anesthesia is conducive to rapid emergence followed by an immediate neurological evaluation. Intermediate fentanyl effect-site concentrations (1-2 ng/mL) at time of wake-up were associated with good balance between rapid emergence and adequate analgesia. Furthermore, we believe that generalizing response surface models to a variety of inhalation agent-opioid combinations using simple relative potency relationships is possible and practical.