Patient evaluation of four different combinations of intravenous anaesthetics for short outpatient procedures.

We studied 200 female patients (ASA group 1) scheduled for termination of pregnancy under general anaesthesia. The patients were randomly allocated to receive one of four anaesthetic combinations; (1) propofol in combination with ketamine 20 mg, (2) propofol in combination with fentanyl 0.1 mg, (3) thiopentone in combination with fentanyl 0.1 mg, (4) methohexitone in combination with fentanyl 0.1 mg. All patients were breathing oxygen in nitrous oxide 1:2. Patients' self assessments of per- and postoperative course and time to discharge were compared. No patient's response suggested light anaesthesia, but dreams were frequently experienced during anaesthesia especially among the propofol-ketamine combination (29 out of 50). Time to discharge was shortest for the groups of patients given propofol; the mean time was 93 and 96 min for the ketamine and fentanyl groups respectively. During the recovery period significantly more patients experienced pain in the ketamine-propofol group. Complaints of nausea were seen in only 15 patients, and seven patients noted psycho-mimetic side effects during recovery, without any differences between the groups. All four combinations tested offered good conditions for short outpatient procedures. However, the propofol-fentanyl combination was found to offer the best quality of anaesthesia as assessed by the patients themselves.