General Anesthesia Maintained with Sevoflurane versus Propofol in Pediatric Surgery Shorter Than 1 Hour: A Randomized Single-Blind Study

BACKGROUND Sevoflurane was compared with propofol for general anesthesia maintenance in pediatric operations lasting less than 1 hour in terms of anesthetic effect and postoperative recovery. MATERIAL AND METHODS Children scheduled for inguinal hernia repair or hydrocele testis repair were randomly assigned to receive general anesthesia maintained with either sevoflurane (n=43) or propofol (n=43). The ilioinguinal nerve was blocked with 1% lidocaine (7 mg/kg) after intravenous administration of ketamine (2 mg/kg). At the end of the surgery in patients receiving sevoflurane, sevoflurane was stopped and a bolus of propofol of 1 mg/kg was administered. RESULTS Sevoflurane was associated with significantly less use of ketamine (35.1±10.6 mg) than was propofol (59.0±28.0 mg; P<0.001). In addition, sevoflurane was associated with a significantly shorter time in the post-anesthesia care unit (52.1±9.0 min) than was propofol (68.8±15.3 min; P<0.001). Propofol was associated with a significantly higher incidence of intraoperative body movement (33.3%) than was sevoflurane (13.5%; P=0.045). However, the 2 groups showed no important differences in other adverse events such as hypoxia, emergence agitation, and additional use of propofol. CONCLUSIONS In pediatric surgery lasting less than 1 hour, anesthesia maintained with sevoflurane was associated with significantly less use of ketamine, shorter postoperative recovery time, and less intraoperative body movement than was propofol.