Infectious or septic shock is induced when a toxic microorganism invades blood circulation in the human body. Emergency operation is an effective method for treating infectious shock in the early stages although the use of anesthesia is more complex due to the internal disorders caused by the disease. This study explored the effects of propofol and etomidate anesthesia on the cellular immune function (T lymphocyte subpopulation) of infectious shock patients, aiming to provide a basis for the selection of the proper anesthetic method. One hundred and twenty patients with infectious shock were selected and randomly divided into an observation and a control group. The control group were narcotized using propofol, while the observation group were narcotized using etomidate. The effects on the immune functions of patients and drug-related adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results demonstrated that the levels of CD3+ and CD4+ of the two groups were similar before anesthesia and the differences had no statistical significance (P 0.05). After anesthesia, the levels of both groups showed a tendency to decrease and the levels of CD3+ and CD4+ of the observation group were much higher than those of the control group in the different periods. The differences were statistically significant (P less than 0.05); the differences of CD8+ level and CD4+/CD8+ between the two groups had no statistical significance before anesthesia (P0.05); after anesthesia, CD8+ level and CD4+/CD8+ of the observation group were all much higher than those of the control group in the different periods and the differences had statistical significance (P less than 0.05). Therefore, the conclusion is that etomidate anesthesia has little influence on the immune functions of infectious shock patients in perioperative period and the incidence of adverse reaction is low, hence, worth clinical promotion.