An 85-year-old woman is administered a general anesthetic for repair of a hip fracture. Which of the following properties of the anesthetic place her at risk for respiratory depression?

Answer: Solubility in lipids

Explanation:

All the volatile anaesthetic agents has dose dependent respiratory depression VT and MV which may be compensated by increased respiratory rate.

The respiratory depression is more common in case of older people as they cannot compensate for the volume of air.

The solubility of the anesthesia in the lipids can be a risk which can put 85 year old women into respiratory depression.