Effect of propofol and sevoflurane anesthesia on the optic nerve sheath: systematic review and meta-analysis

To facilitate the surgical view, laparoscopic and robotic pelvic surgeries require a pneumoperitoneum with the Trendelenburg position, which may result in elevated Intracranial Pressure (ICP). The choice of anesthetic agents may also influence ICP. Ultrasonographic evaluation of the Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter (ONSD) is a promising way to evaluate ICP. In this systematic review, we aimed to evaluate the ONSD, as an indirect estimation of ICP, in patients undergoing laparoscopic/robotic surgeries under pneumoperitoneum and Trendelenburg position.

A literature search was performed to identify prospective randomized clinical trials in which the primary endpoint was the evaluation of the ONSD using sevoflurane or propofol anesthesia after the onset of pneumoperitoneum and Trendelenburg position. The mean and the standard deviation of the ONSD in each intervention group were extracted from the included trials for analysis. Mean difference with 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI) was calculated.

Five randomized controlled trials, with 277 subjects, were allocated to this study. Compared with the baseline, there was an increase in ONSD from 0.5h to 3 hours (p < 0.05) in both propofol and sevoflurane groups. Furthermore, propofol reduced the ONSD compared to sevoflurane (mean difference: -0.23 mm, 95% CI: -0.37 to -0.10; studies = 5; I² = 23%).

There is evidence indicating, through ultrasonographic analysis of the ONSD, that propofol probably reduces ICP compared to sevoflurane in robotic and laparoscopic pelvic surgeries.