Efficacy of Remifentanil-induced Controlled Hypotension for Orthognathic Two Jaw Surgery

The effect of anesthetic technique on recovery after orthognathic surgery: a retrospective audit

We audited the recovery characteristics of 51 patients who had undergone orthognathic maxillofacial surgery at a single center. Patients whose anesthesia had been maintained with intravenous propofol and remifentanil (n  =  21) had significantly higher pain scores during the first 4 hours after surgery than those whose anesthesia was maintained with volatile inhalational agents and longer-acting opioids (n  =  30) (P  =  .016). There was a nonsignificant trend towards shorter recovery times in the former group, while there were no differences in early postoperative opioid usage, hemodynamic parameters, or postoperative nausea and vomiting . Given that our data were collected retrospectively and without the ability to control for potential confounders, we interpret the results with caution. Notwithstanding these limitations, we believe this is the first report comparing the effects of different opioid-based anesthetic regimens on early recovery from orthognathic surgery, and we believe this report may be used as the starting point for a controlled study.

The hemodynamic changes during the infusion of remifentanil for patients under sevoflurane anesthesia during arthroscopic shoulder surgery

BACKGROUND

In spite of its minimal invasiveness, hemodynamic instability frequently happens during arthroscopic procedures. This study was performed to investigate the clinical efficacy of remifentanil for controlling the intra-operative hemodynamics during the performance of arthroscopic shoulder surgery.

METHODS

Sixty patients (ASA class 1 and 2) who were scheduled for arthroscopic shoulder surgery were recruited for this study. After the induction and maintenance of anesthesia with thiopental sodium, rocuronium bromide, sevoflurane and nitrous oxide, the patients were randomly allocated to receive either saline or three different doses of remifentanil (0.03, 0.05 or 0.07 microg/kg/min) to assess the hemodynamic changes such as the systolic blood pressure, the diastolic blood pressure and the heart rate.

RESULTS

The hemodynamics in the remifentanil groups were more stable than those in the saline group (P < 0.05), but there were some cardiovascular side effects such as hypertension (remifentanil 0.03 microg/kg/min), hypotension and bradycardia (remifentanil 0.07 microg/kg/min) with using remifentanil.

CONCLUSIONS

Remifentanil 0.05 microg/kg/min under anesthetic maintenance with sevoflurane showed better hemodynamic stability than the other two remifentanil groups during arthroscopic shoulder surgery.