Microcirculation measured by vascular occlusion test during desflurane–remifentanil anesthesia is superior to that in propofol–remifentanil anesthesia in patients undergoing thoracic surgery: subgroup analysis of a prospective randomized study

General anesthesia can affect microcirculatory properties. However, differential effects on the microcirculation according to the anesthetic technique used during thoracoscopic surgery have not been well documented. We conducted a randomized clinical trial in which the effects of desflurane and propofol, both with remifentanil, on systemic arterial oxygenation during one-lung ventilation were compared in patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery. As a subgroup analysis, we compared the effects of two commonly used anesthetic techniques, desflurane–remifentanil (n = 52) and propofol–remifentanil (n = 48), on tissue oxygen saturation using a vascular occlusion test in patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery. Tissue oxygen saturation was higher in the desflurane than the propofol group (mean ± standard deviation, 83 ± 6 vs. 80 ± 9, 84 ± 6 vs. 76 ± 10, and 87 ± 7 vs. 77 ± 10 % at 30 and 60 min of one-lung ventilation and at two-lung ventilation; adjusted p = 0.026, <0.001, and <0.001, respectively). The recovery slope during the vascular occlusion test, reflecting microvascular reperfusion adequacy, was higher in the desflurane than the propofol group during surgery (mean difference, 0.5 %/s; 95 % CI 0.0–0.9 %/s; p = 0.037). Desflurane–remifentanil anesthesia is associated with better microcirculation than propofol–remifentanil anesthesia in patients undergoing thoracoscopic surgery.