Meptazinol as an analgesic adjunct to total intravenous anaesthesia in cystoscopy patients.

Sixty-four unpremedicated patients undergoing cystoscopy received either intravenous meptazinol 2 mg/kg or saline in equivalent volume in a randomised, double-blind manner immediately before induction of anaesthesia with Althesin. Inclusion of meptazinol reduced the total dose of anaesthetic required, allowed a more rapid recovery and was associated with less movement in response to surgery. The patients in the control group tended to hyperventilate, and had lower end-tidal CO2 tension (p less than 0.001), and also higher pulse rates during surgery (p less than 0.01) than the meptazinol group. However, the patients who received meptazinol had a more frequent incidence of complications during induction and recovery (p less than 0.05).