Ro 15-1788 for postoperative recovery. A randomised clinical trial in patients undergoing minor surgical procedures under midazolam anaesthesia.

In a double-blind randomised study, 100 women who underwent induced abortion under midazolam anaesthesia were given the benzodiazepine antagonist Ro 15-1788 or placebo after termination of anaesthesia. Recovery was assessed by means of a modified Steward coma scale. Following incremental doses of Ro 15-1788, 56% of the patients were fully awake within 3 minutes and 92% after 5 minutes, which was significant compared to the placebo group. The median duration of amnesia was 91 minutes after Ro 15-1788 compared to 121 minutes in the placebo group (p less than 0.001). The median dose of Ro 15-1788 was 0.4 mg. A slight positive correlation between total dose of Ro 15-1788 and total amount of midazolam was found. Nausea and/or vomiting were found to be more frequent in the Ro 15-1788 group, but otherwise we found no differences between groups with regard to either side effects or cardiorespiratory function. Ro 15-1788 is evidently an effective antagonist to the sedation induced by midazolam.