[Buprenorphine as preanesthetic medication in peridural anesthesia]

Buprenorphine was used as a preanesthetic drug for peridural anaesthesia. The aim of the study was therefore to evaluate the sedative/anxiolitic activity of this drug as compared to prometazine and diazepam. Two hundred male patients, divided into two groups (A and B), who were to undergo urological surgery under peripheral anesthesia, were included in the study: L2/L3 or L3/L4 epidural block. The group A patients were premedicated with buprenorphine; the group B patients received traditional anesthetic. The following factors were evaluated: the course of the AP and CF, the state of intraoperative sedation, the presence of side effects and data obtained, elaborated with a statistical test constructed to compare the percentages in two independent samples. There were no statistically significant variations of the AP and CF in the two groups. Additional sedatives were administered to 56.2% of the patients in group B and to only 27.1% in group A, premedicated with buprenorphine. Thirty seven percent of the group A patients and 10% of the group B patients presented preoperative nausea. The authors believe that the buprenorphine/atrophine association should be encouraged for pre-anesthesia when operations in peridural anesthesia are to be conducted, as it provides a state of constant sedation, avoiding rather ineffective pharmacological mixtures.