What the label lists and what reports show
Desflurane side effects
Desflurane's FDA label: “Most common adverse reactions (incidence> 10%) are coughing, breath holding, apnea, nausea, vomiting.” FAERS holds 1,699 reports naming it through July 30, 2026; the reaction reported most often, leaving out the conditions it is used for, product-use terms and outcomes, is hypotension (117 reports).
- Generic listed
- A presentation discontinued
Check it at the source: the desflurane FDA label on DailyMed (effective October 14, 2025, Baxter Healthcare Corporation); the FDA FAERS public dashboard.
What does the label list?
From the label: adverse reactionsMost common adverse reactions (incidence> 10%) are coughing, breath holding, apnea, nausea, vomiting.
From the label: adverse reactions, continuedMost common adverse reactions (incidence> 10%) are coughing, breath holding, apnea, nausea, vomiting. (6) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Baxter Healthcare Corporation at 1-800-262-3784 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Adverse event information is derived from controlled clinical trials, the majority of which were conducted in the United States. The studies were conducted using a variety of premedications, other anesthetics, and surgical procedures of varying length. Most adverse events reported were mild and transient, and may reflect the surgical procedures, patient characteristics (including disease) and/or medications administered. Of the 2,143 patients exposed to SUPRANE in clinical trials, 370 adults and 152 children were induced with desflurane alone and 987 patients were maintained principally with desflurane. The frequencies given reflect the percent of patients with the event. Each patient was counted once for each type of adverse event. They are presented in alphabetical order according to body system.
Source: FDA drug label, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, effective October 14, 2025 (SPL set 3fe3d468-d283-4dd0-a1a7-29291a9b2d0b), via openFDA; the full label on DailyMed
What do FAERS reports show?
1,699 reports list desflurane among the medicines taken, each a report of something that happened, not proof the medicine caused it; 112 are coded as a death and 654 as a hospital stay. Counts follow how widely a medicine is used and watched, and they are not a measure of how risky it is. Of the 22 reactions below, 12 are named by the same term (in US spelling) in the label's adverse reactions, warnings or patient leaflet; a reaction the label does not name may still be there under another word, and a report does not show that the medicine caused it.
Reports received each year
The 25 most reported reactions
Source: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) via openFDA, reports through July 30, 2026; reactions as MedDRA preferred terms
What next?
- Desflurane: the full record
- label, generics, price, shortages, recalls
- Report a side effect to the FDA
- MedWatch
- Side effects hub
- the most reported medicines and reactions