Complications of Intravenous Remifentanil and Propofol for Gastroscopy

Objective:To evaluate the complications of intravenous remifentanil and propofol for gastroscopy.Methods:Prospective,randomized and double-blinded clinical trial were used.300 ASA Ⅰ-Ⅱ adult patients undergoing gastroscopy were randomly assigned to one of the three modes of administration.Anesthetics were diluted with 5% dextrose.1 ml remifentanil-propofol mixture contains remifentanil 1.5 μg and propofol 5.0 mg.Two minutes before gastroscopy:fentanyl group received 0.5μg/kg fentanyl,followed by bolus injection of 5mg/ml propofol;remifentanil group received 0.5μg/kg remifentanil,followed by propofol;and Mixture group received 0.1ml/kg of 5% dextrose,followed by remifentanil-propofol mixture.The doses of propofol or remifentanil-propofol mixture was adapt to clinical needs.Results: The incidence of slight body movement in remifentanil was lower than that in fentanil group(P0.05).The body movements in mixture group reported the least(P0.05) among the three groups.However,much higher incidence of bradycardia or hypotension in remifentail and mixture groups was found than that in fentanyl group(both P0.05).Moreover,the incidence of hypoxemia was the highest(P0.05)among three groups.No significant difference(P0.05) was observed between remifentanil group and fentanyl group in terms of the incidence of hypoxemia.Conclusion: Intravenous remifentanil and propofol for gastroscopy provides less body movements compared with intravenous fentanyl and propofol.However,cautions should be taken by the frequent occurrence of hypoxemia with intravenous remifentanil-propofol mixture.