Changes in subjective sleepiness, subjective fatigue and nocturnal sleep after anaesthesia with propofol

The purpose of this study was to clarify the changes in psycho-physiological functions after anaesthesia with propofol (PF). The subjects were seven healthy male volunteers and the duration of the anaesthesia was 1 h (14:00-15:00 h). The plasma concentration of PF immediately decreased after the anaesthesia. The subjective sleepiness and VAS (visual liner analogue scale) scores (i.e. effort to do something) increased significantly at 20 min after the anaesthesia. However, these changes were improved at 80 min after the anaesthesia. The sleep latency at the nocturnal sleep 8 h after the anaesthesia was prolonged significantly, but the other parameters including the distributions of stage 3 + 4 and the rapid eye movement 'REM' stage were not changed.