De Baerdemaeker A, et al. - In 25 ASA I-II patients, researchers prospectively investigated emergence time following sevoflurane anesthesia of variable duration with and without isocapnic hyperventilation (ICHV). With one age-adjusted MAC sevoflurane in O₂/air and target-controlled remifentanil delivery, maintenance with general anesthesia was provided. In a random manner, 13 patients received normoventilation and 12 received ICHV (doubling minute ventilation while titrating CO₂ into the inspiratory limb to maintain isocapnia). They determined time to proper response to verbal command; time to extubation; and time to stating one’s name (early recovery end points). Findings revealed only a small impact of isocapnic hyperventilation on emergence times after anesthesia. This implies that, with modern potent inhaled anesthetics, isocapnic hyperventilation could have limited clinical benefits.