Effect of halothane on the peripheral cutaneous vasoconstriction and shivering induced by internal body cooling in rabbits]

Although suppression of thermoregulatory mechanisms by anesthetics is generally assumed, the extent to which thermoregulatory responses are active during general anesthesia is not known. To evaluate the effect of anesthetics on thermoregulation, we investigated the threshold body core temperatures to induce peripheral cutaneous vasoconstriction and shivering in spontaneously breathing rabbits. Rabbits are anesthetized with halothane at 0.05, 0.2 and 0.4 MAC (minimum alveolar concentration). Internal whole body cooling was performed by perfusing the cool water through an intestinal U-shaped thermode placed in the colon. Core (esophagus) and peripheral (ear) temperatures were measured with thermistors. The esophageal temperatures at the beginning of peripheral cutaneous vasoconstriction and shivering induced by internal whole body cooling were determined. Peripheral cutaneous vasoconstriction was not significantly affected by halothane. However, the incidence of shivering was significantly decreased by halothane dose-dependently. Threshold of shivering (37.3 +/- 0.8 degrees C) was significantly lower than that of peripheral cutaneous vasoconstriction (38.9 +/- 1.1 degrees C). We conclude that the halothane can exert an influence on shivering.