In this randomized, double-blind, controlled study, we tested the hypothesis that the short-acting beta(1)-adrenoceptor antagonists esmolol and landiolol suppress hemodynamic changes and bispectral index (BIS) increases, both of which are induced by tracheal intubation under general anesthesia with sevoflurane alone. Forty-five patients were randomly assigned to the control, esmolol, and landiolol groups (n = 15 each). Anesthesia was induced with sevoflurane in oxygen, with an end-tidal concentration maintained at 1 minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration (MAC). Infusion of saline (control group), esmolol (bolus of 1 mg/kg and then 0.25 mg x kg(-1) x min(-1); esmolol group), or landiolol (bolus of 0.125 mg/kg and then 0.04 mg x kg(-1) x min(-1); landiolol group) was started 5 min after the induction of anesthesia and was continued throughout the study. Tracheal intubation was performed 12 min after anesthesia induction. There were no differences in overall changes of mean arterial blood pressure among the three groups, whereas, at 1-5 min after tracheal intubation, heart rate increased in all groups but was significantly slower in the esmolol and landiolol groups than in the control group (P < 0.05). BIS was between 96 and 98 for all patients at baseline and decreased during the induction of anesthesia. There were no differences in BIS among the three groups before laryngoscopy (39 +/- 5, 39 +/- 5, and 38 +/- 4 in the control, esmolol, and landiolol groups, respectively). BIS increased significantly in the control group (54 +/- 10; P < 0.05) 1 min after intubation, whereas it remained unchanged in the esmolol and landiolol groups (45 +/- 10 and 41 +/- 6, respectively). In conclusion, the increase in both heart rate and BIS after tracheal intubation under 1 MAC sevoflurane anesthesia was suppressed by the concomitant administration of either esmolol or landiolol.