ABSTRACT
Oxygen free radicals are highly reactive and potentially destructive. In the normal cells there are always a small number of free radicals produced, but cell enzymes easily deal with them. The aim of this study is to detect the effects of trauma and thereafter different intravenous anaesthesia on free radical production in individuals with multiple injuries. This study was performed on 40 individuals. They were divided into 2 groups; trauma group [n = 20] and non trauma control group [n =20]. Both groups were matched as regard age, sex and body weight. Each group was classified according to the type of intravenous anaesthesia used into ketamine- fentanyl group [n =10] and propofol- fentanyl group [n=10]. Estimation of plasma malondialdhyde [MDA] and blood superoxide dismutase [SOD] and glutathione per-oxidase [GPX] levels was done. The results of this study revealed significant increase in MDA levels and significant decrease in SOD and GPX level in trauma group in comparison with control one. On the other hand, propofol and ketamine induced decrease MDA levels during the three stages of study in both groups in comparison to their corresponding basal values. Also, propofol and ketamine induced significant increase in GPX levels after induction in traumatic and control groups when compared with their basal values. However, propofol produced significant increase in SOD levels after induction in traumatic and control groups when compared with their basal values. From this study, we conclude that propofol and ketamine decrease free radicals generation while propofol increased the antioxidant scavengers than ketamine. So, propofol could be more beneficial than ketamine for anaesthesia of polytraumatized individuals, which have oxidant and antioxidant imbalances