Intravenous Anesthesia With Bispectral Index Monitoring vs Inhalational Anesthesia for Rhytidoplasty: A Randomized...

Minor adverse effects related to anesthesia are common and worrisome to patients, including perioperative vomiting, gagging on the endotracheal tube, incisional pain, and nausea. A previously published intravenous anesthesia protocol reports extremely low rates of postoperative nausea and vomiting (<1%) and decreases in postoperative pain perception compared with rates reported following administration of inhalational anesthetics.

To evaluate and compare postoperative outcomes in patients after administration of combined propofol and ketamine hydrochloride anesthesia with bispectral index monitoring (PKA-BIS protocol) vs inhalational anesthesia (IA) during lower rhytidoplasty.

We performed a prospective, double-blind, randomized comparison trial of the PKA-BIS protocol and IA in 30 consecutive female patients undergoing rhytidoplasty by a single surgeon at a single outpatient surgery center from October 2013 to June 2014.

Outcome measures included nausea, vomiting, pain, overall feeling of well-being, time to awaken, time to discharge, and cost. Patient measures were recorded using a combination of a 40-item validated postoperative quality of recovery questionnaire (QOR-40) and visual analog scales (VASs). Results were recorded immediately after surgery and on postoperative days 1 and 7.

A statistically significant reduction in emergence time (mean [SD], 29.8 [10.6] vs 46.0 [10.2] minutes; P < .001) and time to meet discharge criteria (51.4 [19.3] vs 66.1 [12.9] minutes; P = .02) was seen in patients in the PKA-BIS group. Patient-reported (subjective) postoperative nausea (3 of 15 [20%] vs 7 of 15 patients [47%]; P = .12; χ2 = 2.40), vomiting (0 vs 2 of 15 patients [13%]; P = .14; χ2 = 2.14), and confusion on the day of surgery (3 of 15 [20%] vs 6 of 14 patients [43%]; P = .18; χ2 = 1.77) were also decreased in the PKA-BIS group, but these differences did not reach significance. Differences in global recovery scores (QOR-40 scores in the postanesthesia care unit, 158.13 [22.68] vs 155.33 [18.09]; P = .71; at day 1, 166.47 [26.39] vs 166.00 [16.00]; P = .96), postoperative overall feeling of well-being (VAS scores at day 1, 6.10 vs 6.26; at day 7, 7.49 vs 8.00), and postoperative pain perception (VAS scores at day 1, 3.40 vs 3.65; at day 7, 2.26 vs 1.81) between the PKA-BIS and IA groups, respectively, did not reach significance. The costs of anesthesia administration were similar between the PKA-BIS ($10.37/h) and IA ($8.47/h to $9.87/h) groups.

The PKA-BIS protocol for anesthesia appears to be a comparable alternative to traditional IA in patients undergoing elective rhytidoplasty. A larger patient sample size is needed to determine whether trends toward decreased nausea, vomiting, and postoperative confusion and differences in postoperative pain perception are significant.

clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02410460.

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