Controlled respiration in neurosurgery.

A GREAT deal has been written about the requirements of neurosurgical anaesthesia, but little about the use of controlled respiration for these cases. It appears, however, that the use of controlled respiration in neurosurgery has spread throughout various centres in Australia. It is intended here to describe a technique for neurosurgical anaesthesia using controlled positive and negative pressure respiration. Prior to April 1956, an open technique was invariably used at St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, which appeared to give better operating conditions than controlled respiration with intermittent positive pressure. However, since obtaining a Harrington-James respirator an increasing number of cases has been done with controlled positive and negative pressure, until the present when the majority of cases are anaesthetized by this method. It is considered that a soft brain and good operating conditions are more consistently achieved.