Spontaneous ventilation may offer advantages over controlled mechanical ventilation (CMV), but increase in work of breathing may diminish its usefulness. During general anesthesia, respiratory depression and increased work of breathing often preclude spontaneous ventilation, and patients then receive CMV. We compared the inspiratory work of breathing of anesthetized patients who breathed with pressure support ventilation (PSV) with that associated with a demand gas flow and a standard anesthesia circle system. We studied nine consenting patients who underwent general inhaled anesthesia with or without regional supplementation. An anesthesia/ventilator system (Siemens 900D, Solna, Sweden) provided PSV (5 cm H2O) or demand gas flow during spontaneous inspiration. Gas flow during demand breathing and PSV was initiated when inspiration produced a 2-cm H2O reduction in airway pressure. An anesthesia machine (Dräger Narkomed 3, Telford, Pa.) provided a gas flow rate of 6 L/min through a standard semiclosed circle system. Airway pressure, airway gas flow rate, and esophageal pressure were continuously transduced, and data or signals were conveyed to a computer. Tidal volume and respiratory rate were computed from the flow curve. The inspiratory work of breathing was calculated as the integral of the area subserved by a plot of esophageal pressure and tidal volume during inspiration. Heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure were recorded, and arterial blood was sampled for gas tension and pH analysis. No differences were found in pHa, Paco2, Pao2, tidal volume, respiratory rate, heart rate, or mean arterial blood pressure among the three modes of ventilation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)