Alfentanil supplemented anaesthesia for short procedures

Thirty-nine unpremedicated patients who presented for cystoscopy were given either alfentanil or saline in a random double-blind fashion immediately before anaesthesia with etomidate, nitrous oxide and enflurane. Alfentanil significantly reduced myoclonus associated with etomidate. During anaesthesia, patients who received alfentanil had smaller minute volumes, lower respiratory frequencies, and smaller increases in heart rate. The incidence of apnoea was not significantly increased. After operation, patients who received alfentanil were prescribed significantly more analgesia, possibly because of their reduced uptake of volatile anaesthetic agent. It is concluded that supplementation with alfentanil improves the quality of anaesthesia induced with etomidate.