Inhibitory concentration of propofol in combination with dexmedetomidine during microelectrode recording for deep brain stimulator insertion surgeries under general anesthesia

Background: Microelectrode recording (MER) for target refinement is widely used in deep brain stimulator insertion for Parkinson disease. Signals may be influenced by anesthetics when patients receive general anesthesia (GA). This study determined the inhibitory concentration (IC) of propofol on MER signals when it was coadministered with dexmedetomidine. Methods: Patients were anesthetized with dexmedetomidine (0.5 mu g.kg(-1) loading, followed by infusion at 0.4 mu g.kg(-1)h(-1)) and propofol through target-controlled infusion for GA with tracheal intubation. The surgeon conducted the online scoring of the background signals, spiking frequency, amplitude, and pattern of single-unit activities by using a 0-10 verbal numerical rating scale (NRS; 0, maximal suppression; 10, minimal suppression), and responses were grouped into suppression (NRS <= 6) and nonsuppression (NRS > 6). The median inhibitory concentration (IC50) of propofol (as target effect-site concentrations: Ce-prop) was determined using modified Dixon's up-and-down method. Probit regression analysis was further used to obtain the dose-response relationship, and IC05 and IC95 were calculated. Results: Twenty-three adult patients participated in this study. Under the concomitant infusion of dexmedetomidine, the predicted IC50 value (95% CI) of Ce-prop for neuronal suppression during MER was 1.29 (1.24-1.34) mu g.mL(-1) as calculated using modified Dixon's up-and-down method. Using probit analysis, the estimated IC05, IC50, and IC95 values (95% CIs) were 1.17 (0.87-1.23), 1.28 (1.21-1.34), and 1.40 (1.33-1.85) mu g.mL(-1), respectively. Conclusion: Our data provided reference values of propofol for dosage adjustment to avoid interference on MER under GA when anesthetics have to be continuously infused during recording.