Comparison of Blood Pressure and Heart Rate in Pediatric Tonsillectomy under Propofol-Remifentanil Anesthesia and Desflurane-N2O Anesthesia

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Remifentanil is an ultra-short-acting mu opioid receptor agonist. However, there are few reports of its use in children. Therefore, this study compared propofol-remifentanil anesthesia (PR) with a desflurane-N2O anesthesia (D) in children. METHODS: One hundred children (5-12 years), who were scheduled for a tonsillectomy, were randomly assigned to either Group PR (n=50) or Group D (n=50). After inducing anesthesia with propofol and rocuronium, group PR was maintained with an infusion of propofol and remifentanil. Group D was maintained with desflurane. At the end of surgery all the anesthetics were terminated without tapering. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate were measured upon arrival at the operation room, after induction, after intubation, at the beginning of the operation, 5, 10, 20 minutes after beginning of surgery and the end of anesthesia. RESULTS: There was a significantly lower heart rate in group PR than in group D but there was no significant difference in blood pressure between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: In children, propofol-remifentanil anesthesia is a well-tolerated method of anesthesia, with a lower heart rate compared with desflurane-N2O based anesthesia.