Total intravenous anesthesia with droperidol, fentanyl and ketamine (DFK) was administered to 36 cardiac patients who underwent mostly coronary artery bypass graft or heart valve replacement. The induction and maintenance of anesthesia using this technique were almost satisfactory with little decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP), although six patients among the early 21 patients developed hypotension below 90 mmHg (SBP) during the induction, and required vasopressors. Half of the patients had hypertensive episode of above 180 mmHg (SBP), from the start of operation to onset of cardiopulmonary bypass, which was safely and effectively overcome by a small dose of antihypertensive agents. Total intravenous anesthesia with DFK was accompanied with much more hypertensive episodes compared to anesthesia with moderate dose fentanyl (30 micrograms.kg-1) combined with enflurane. However, the incidence of cardiovascular complications following anesthesia was not statistically different between the two anesthesia groups. In addition, most of the patients with DFK showed a rapid awaking time with relatively good postoperative cardiovascular stability. These findings suggest that total intravenous anesthesia with DFK is accompanied with minimal hemodynamic changes during and after open heart surgery.