Figure 6-5 The percentage change in respiratory system resistance in patients after 5 and 10 minutes of maintenance anesthesia with 0.25 mg/kg/min thiopental plus 50% nitrous oxide; 1.1 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of sevoflurane, halothane, or isoflurane; or approximately 1 MAC of desflurane. All volatile anesthetics except desflurane decreased resistance. Sevoflurane decreased resistance more than isoflurane. (Adapted from Rooke GA, Choi J-H, Bishop MJ: The effect of isoflurane, halothane, sevoflurane, and thiopental/nitrous oxide on respiratory system resistance after tracheal intubation. Anesthesiology 86:1294, 1997 and from Goff MJ, Arain SR, Ficke DJ, et al: Absence of bronchodilation during desflurane anesthesia: A comparison to sevoflurane and thiopental. Anesthesiology 93:404, 2000.)