Effects of anesthetics on cystometric parameters in female rats

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of ketamine, propofol, midazolam and ether on cystometric parameters in rats. Thirty adult female Wistar rats were divided into four groups according to the agent used for the anesthesia; group 1: ether inhalation, group 2: midazolam, group 3: propofol and group 4: ketamine. After surgical implantation of catheter, cystometry was performed in awake rats followed by same procedure under anesthesia. Immediately following awake cystometry, six rats were anesthetized with midazolam (25 mg/kg) intraperitoneally (i.p.), seven rats were anesthetized with propofol (20 mg/kg) i.p., and 11 rats were anesthetized with ketamine (15 mg/kg) i.p. In other six rats, ether inhalation anesthesia was used after awake cystometry. Cystometric parameters such as resting bladder pressure, micturition pressure and the period between micturition were analyzed with Wilcoxon signed-rank test for statistical analysis. There was no statistically significant effect of ether and midazolam on cystometric parameters, compared to awake rats. Propofol was found to change all measured cystometric parameters without statistically significant difference. The period between micturition was clearly prolonged by propofol but it was also not statistically significant. Ketamine was found to be very depressant on micturition. The results suggest that ether and midazolam are preferable to ketamine for anesthetized cystometry studies. The results were questionable for propofol, and further studies are needed to make it clear.