To increase sample throughput for GC analysis of inhalation anaesthetics without affecting the separation of nitrous oxide (N2O) and halogenated anaesthetics (sevoflurane, isoflurane and halothane), we explored the effectiveness of a tailor-shortened (12 m) PlotQ capillary column and developed a high-speed version of a previously reported GC technique (involving chromatographic separation of analytes using a GC-MS system, coupled with a selected ion monitoring (SIM) method to increase sensitivity). Efficient separation and repeatable results were achieved at a reduced runtime of approximately 7 min (versus 18 min with the original method) at a carrier gas flow of 1.5 ml/min. This approach should more than double the previous throughput.