Multicentre study of propofol in day case surgery

An open multicentre study that involved 879 patients was set up after the launch of propofol to examine its use outside of the clinical trial programme and within the context of a routine clinical setting. Propofol was assessed as the main anaesthetic agent for a range of day case surgery that included gynaecological, urogenital, body surface, orthopaedic and dental procedures. For the purposes of the study, supplementary agents were restricted to fentanyl, alfentanil or nitrous oxide; no volatile anaesthetics were allowed. Induction of anaesthesia was smooth; 91.6% of patients experienced no excitatory or other adverse effect. The mean duration of anaesthesia was 12 minutes 12 seconds and the mean dosage of propofol was 10.6 mg/kg/hour. Maintenance was uneventful in the large majority of patients. Pain on injection affected approximately 25% of patients and the incidence was reduced when large veins were used for injection. Recovery was rapid with a short interval of approximately 1 minute between awakening and orientation (time to giving correct date of birth). There was a low incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting.