thiopental and Fatigue

Fatigue may delay functional recovery after day surgery and may be more common after propofol anaesthesia. We randomly allocated 123 participants scheduled for ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomy to induction and maintenance of general anaesthesia with propofol or thiopentone and desflurane. Postoperative fatigue was unaffected by the allocated anaesthetic. The combined mean (SD) Identity-Consequences Fatigue Scale of 34.3 (15.1) before surgery increased in the first postoperative week: to 60.4 (21.1) on day 1, p < 0.001; to 51.1 (17.2) on day 2, p < 0.001; and to 37.5 (16.3) on day 6, p = 0.028. The mean (SD) fatigue reduced at one postoperative month to 22.4 (12.6), 35% less than the combined pre-operative level, p < 0.001. Rates of nausea, vomiting and rescue antie-mesis during the first week after propofol, compared with thiopentone and desflurane, were: 23/63 vs. 32/60, p = 0.27; 8/63 vs. 9/60, p = 0.71; and 12/63 vs. 28/60, p = 0.001, respectively. There were no differences in postoperative pain. In conclusion, fatigue after scheduled laparoscopic cholecystectomy was unaffected by anaesthesia with propofol vs. thiopentone and desflurane.

Topics: Adult; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic; Desflurane; Fatigue; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Postoperative Complications; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting; Propofol; Thiopental

The purpose of this study was to determine the rate and quality of recovery when general anaesthesia was induced with a mixture of thiopentone and propofol, compared with thiopentone or propofol alone. Sixty ASA class I and II women scheduled for out-patient laparoscopic surgery underwent induction of anaesthesia with either (i) thiopentone, (ii) propofol, or (iii) a mixture of the two, in a randomized, double-blind fashion. Anaesthesia was then maintained using nitrous oxide, isoflurane and fentanyl. A psychometric test was administered before and after surgery, and the time taken to reach a series of recovery milestones was noted. Patients were discharged as soon as they were ambulant and had satisfactory control of pain and nausea with oral agents. They were telephoned at 24-48 hr later, and asked to rate their experience of a list of side effects on an ordinal scale. Patient groups were demographically comparable and underwent surgery of the same duration. Those receiving thiopentone were discharged after a mean time of 3 hr 25 +/- 58 min (SD). The corresponding figures for propofol and the thiopentone/propofol mixture were 2 hr 40 min (+/- 49) and 2 hr 48 min (+/- 68) respectively. The recovery time between thiopentone and the other two regimes was different (P < 0.05). All three groups experienced equally frequent and severe nausea, headache, tiredness and other side effects during the next 24 hr. It is concluded that induction with a mixture of thiopentone and propofol leads to a similar rate and quality of recovery to that of propofol above.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Anesthesia Recovery Period; Anesthesia, Intravenous; Double-Blind Method; Drug Combinations; Fatigue; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Headache; Humans; Laparoscopy; Locomotion; Middle Aged; Nausea; Pain, Postoperative; Patient Discharge; Patient Satisfaction; Propofol; Psychomotor Performance; Thiopental

Topics: Fatigue; Humans; Sports; Thiopental