Anesthesia
Before proceeding to the operating room, the authors assessed the patient’s eligibility for the study through history-taking, physical examination, and evaluation of basal laboratory studies. Standard monitoring was connected upon arrival in the operating room, including ECG, non-invasive arterial blood pressure, and pulse oximetry. All patients received the study drug over 10 min right before anesthesia induction, followed by a consistent general anesthetic regimen. Fentanyl (1 µg/kg body weight) was used for analgesia, propofol (1–2 mg/kg body weight) was used to induce anesthesia, rocuronium (1 mg/kg body weight) was used to allow insertion of the endotracheal tube, and isoflurane in 50% O