Experimental meningitis in the rabbit. I. Arterial blood pressure and acid-base balance during halothane anesthesia and in situ freezing of the brain.

Abstract

Effects of halothane/N2O anesthesia and in situ freezing of the brain on mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), pH, pCO2 and pO2 were evaluated in rabbits with either Streptococcus pneumoniae or Escherichia coli meningitis. Prior to anesthesia infected rabbits had, compared to controls, significantly lower values for MABP and pCO2, either with a compensated (S. pneumoniae group) or decompensated (E. coli group) metabolic acidosis. In most animals a slight additional decrease in MABP was observed during anesthesia. With maintained pre-anesthetic hypocapnia no further disturbance in acid-base balance occurred during anesthesia. After one minute of freezing MABP increased towards preanesthetic levels. We conclude that the technique for in situ freezing of the brain under halothane/N2O anesthesia may be applied for studies of cerebral metabolism in rabbit with experimental meningitis.