Although remifentanil provides profound analgesia during operation, postoperative occurrence of hyperalgesia and tolerance after remifentanil administration could be a challenge to the postoperative pain control. In this investigation, we sought to determine the effect of maintenance with propofol or sevoflurane on postoperative analgesia after remifentanil-based anaesthesia. Two hundred and fourteen women undergoing breast cancer surgery under remifentanil-based general anaesthesia were randomly included in this prospective and double-blind trial. The patients were anaesthetized with sevoflurane (S) or propofol (P) under high (H) or low (L) effect-site concentration (Ce) of remifentanil-based anaesthesia using a target-controlled infusion system; the patients were allocated into the SH, SL, PH, and PL groups. Pain intensity (visual analogue score, VAS) and cumulative morphine requirements were recorded 30 min, 1, 6, 12, and 24 h after operation. The patient characteristics were similar. Cumulative morphine consumption at 24 h after surgery was higher in the SH group [38.6 (sd 14.9)] compared with the SL [31.5 (3.7)], PH [31.7 (8.3)], and PL groups [30.1 (6.1)] (P<0.001). The VAS scores during 24 h after surgery were also higher in the SH group than the SL, PH, and PL groups (P<0.001). Remifentanil hyperalgesia was induced by high dose of remifentanil-based anaesthesia during sevoflurane anaesthesia, whereas that was not apparent during propofol anaesthesia. Also, remifentanil hyperalgesia did not occur during low dose of remifentanil-based anaesthesia. Maintenance of propofol during high-dose remifentanil-based anaesthesia provided better postoperative analgesia.

The current study evaluated whether the level of preoperative anxiety assessed by the state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI) affects cardiovascular response during anesthetic induction. Furthermore, we evaluated the utility of the preoperative anxiety scale as a predictive factor for hemodynamic changes. One hundred twenty patients who were scheduled to undergo elective surgery under general anesthesia were enrolled in this prospective study. The patients were asked to fill out STAI questionnaires the night before the day of surgery. For 5 minutes after tracheal intubation, changes in vital signs were recorded. The correlation between STAI scores and the percent changes in vital signs during the induction of anesthesia for each subgroup was assessed. In addition, the predictability of the 20% change in vital signs by STAI scores was analyzed using receiver operating characteristics curves. The state anxiety scores of patients 45 years of age or older showed a significant correlation with percent changes in mean blood pressure and heart rate, whereas the state anxiety scores in other subgroups showed no significant correlation with changes in vital signs during the induction of anesthesia. Furthermore, the state anxiety scores in patients 45 years of age or older were shown to be useful in predicting a 20% change in vital signs during anesthetic induction. The state anxiety scores of patients 45 years of age or above could be a useful tool for predicting changes in vital signs during anesthetic induction. Thus, physician should be mindful of preoperative anxiety.

Midazolam premedication is widely used before general anesthesia, but lacks clinical evidence of effectiveness. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of midazolam premedication following 4 aspects: anxiety reduction, sedation, hemodynamic stabilization, and analgesia. In a randomized, single-blind, prospective study, a total of 128 women were allocated to the midazolam premedication group (Group P, n = 64) or the control group (Group N, n = 64). The patients were asked to complete the Beck anxiety inventory (BAI) 2 times: on the day before surgery (BS) and 30 minutes after midazolam premedication (T0). Depth of anesthesia using state entropy (SE), conventional hemodynamic data using heart rate (HR) and mean blood pressure (MBP), and analgesic profiles using surgical pleth index (SPI) were acquired at the following 4 points: T1—pre-induction, T2—prior to intubation, T3—intubation, and T4—20 minutes after intubation. No change in BAI score was observed between BS and T0 in both groups P and N (median and interquartile range [IQR], Group P: BS—4.5 [2.0–7.0], T0—4.0 [1.0–9.0], P = .603; Group N: BS—4.0 [1.0–8.5], T0—3.5 [1.0–6.0], P = .066). Midazolam premedication reduced SE at T2–4 (mean difference with 95% confidence interval [95% CI], T2—7.1 [1.6–12.6], P = .012; T3—10.4 [6.5–14.4], P < .001; T4—9.2 [5.0–13.4], P < .001). Midazolam premedication also reduced HR (mean differences [95% CI], T1—7.3 [2.5–12.1], P = .003; T3—6.6 [1.1–12.2], P = .020) and MBP at T1 and T3 (mean differences [95% CI], T1—7.3 [2.5–12.1], P = .003; T3—8.6 [1.3–15.9], P = .021), and lowered SPI at T1–3 (mean differences [95% CI]: T1—12.7 [6.1–19.4], P < .001; T2—6.0 [0.5–11.5], P = .033; T3—7.9 [1.7–14.1], P = .012). Midazolam premedication did not reduce the level of anxiety. However, midazolam premedication reduced the entropy values, stabilized hemodynamics, and provided analgesia during the induction of anesthesia. The purpose of midazolam premedication needs to be reconsidered.

Thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) exacerbates hypotension due to peripheral vasodilator effects following the use of general anesthetics. This study aimed to compare the hemodynamic changes caused by three different concentrations of epidural ropivacaine and to evaluate the performance of the stroke-volume variation (SVV) and central venous pressure (CVP) during TEA with general anesthesia. A total of 120 patients were administered 8 mL of ropivacaine solution via epidural injection, following randomization into one of three groups based on the concentration of ropivacaine in the study solution: 0.75%, 0.375%, or 0.2%. Hemodynamics were monitored for 30 min after loading. We analyzed the hemodynamic changes in the subgroups according to an age cutoff of 60 years. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to characterize the relationship of the SVV, CVP, and a 20% decrease in the mean arterial pressure (MAP) following TEA. Data from 109 patients were analyzed. MAP and systemic vascular resistance index were significantly decreased, and SVV was significantly increased after epidural loading only in the 0.75% ropivacaine group. There was a significant difference in hemodynamics between young and elderly subgroups in the 0.75% ropivacaine group. SVV showed a negative correlation with MAP, whereas CVP showed no correlation. The ROC analysis of SVV demonstrated a weak predictive ability of a 20% decrease in MAP at 10 min after the loading dose, with an area-under-the-curve of 0.687 and a 9.5% optimal cutoff value (sensitivity, 60.6%; specificity, 68.9%). A high concentration of ropivacaine through TEA caused a significant decrease in the systemic vascular resistance and blood pressure. More significant decreases were shown in the elderly patients. Though the change of SVV showed a negative correlation with hypotension and indicated functional hypovolemia after TEA, the predictability was limited. Number: NCT01559285 , date: January 24, 2013.

Background: Emergence delirium (ED) is common in pediatric patients undergoing general anesthesia with sevoflurane. Preoperative sleep quality is associated with the risk factors for ED. However, research on the relationship between sleep quality and ED is limited. We aimed to investigate the relationship between ED and preoperative sleep quality in pediatric patients undergoing strabismus surgery.Methods: This clinical trial included pediatric patients aged 4–12 years who underwent elective strabismus surgery. The patients and their parents were questioned about the patients’ preoperative sleep quality using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaire. For anesthesia induction, thiopental (5 mg/kg) and rocuronium (0.6 mg/kg) were used, and anesthesia was maintained with sevoflurane (minimum alveolar concentration, 1–1.5). After administration of a reversal drug, extubation was performed, and the patients were transferred to a post-anesthesia recovery unit. At 10 min after extubation, the degree of ED was measured using the pediatric anesthesia emergence delirium (PAED) and Watcha scale scores.Results: Of the 62 enrolled patients, three pediatric patients were excluded. The overall incidence of ED was 22%. A total of 59 patients were divided into the two groups. The ED group and the non-ED group comprised 13 and 46 patients. Age, height and weight were significantly lower in the ED group than in the non-ED group. Preoperative PSQI and Watcha scale score were significantly higher in the ED group than in the non-ED group. Multivariate analysis showed that age (adjusted OR [95% CI]: 0.490 [0.290–0.828],p = 0.008) and preoperative PSQI score (adjusted OR [95% CI]: 2.149[1.224–3.771],p = 0.008) was associated with ED. In sub-group analysis, PAED scale and Watcha scale scores showed a moderate correlation with preoperative sleep quality in preschool-age patients.Conclusion: In conclusion, the incidence of ED tended to be higher in younger age and poorer preoperative sleep quality in pediatric patients. In particular, the poorer sleep quality score was associated with higher incidence of ED in the preschool-age. Large-scale clinical studies and long-term follow-up studies on ED and sleep quality are required.Trial registration: This study was registered with Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03332407) at November 5th 2017.