Postanaesthetic postural stability following thiopental or propanidid anaesthesia

Using a quantitative Romberg-test performed on a computerized force-plate-system, postural stability was tested in 39 patients before and 3 hours after general anaesthesia with either thiopental (20 patients) or propanidid (19 patients). Sway-tendencies in the sagittal and the transversal direction were recorded. Comparing pre- and postoperative test results, patients anaesthetized with thiopental had a decreased postural stability 3 hours after anaesthesia, indicated by a significantly (P less than 0.05) increased sway-tendency of 22.6% in the sagittal direction. No change occurred in sway-tendency in the transversal direction in this group. In the propanidid group no significant differences were found between pre- and postoperative test results.