The inhalational anesthesia is performed by the administration of inhalational agents and fresh gases. Low and high flows have their own advantages and disadvantages. In Korea, many anesthesiologists use more than 2 L/min of fresh gas flow (FGF). This study was performed to analyze the practice and knowledge of FGF use by Korean Anesthesiologists.

A questionaire was sent to 122 anesthesiologists (15 university hospitals and 16 general hospitals) who attended the 47th Annual Autumn Meeting of the Korean Society of Anesthesiology in 2002. The questionaire covered topics dealing with inhalational agents, FGF, and safety systems for inhalational anesthesia practice.

The most preferred inhalational anesthetic was sevoflurane (65.6%). 88.5% of respondents used more than 2 L/min of FGF. The majority of the respondents, however, did not consider the reasons for using certain levels of FGF. Only 27% of hospitals had pulse oximetry, capnogram or muti-gas analysis, fail-safe device, and a scavenging system.

Many anesthesiologists, especially trainees, failed to consider the use of FGF during inhalational anesthesia. Therefore, special consideration should be given to the training and education of trainees about the proper of FGF.