Comparative study between the effect of propofol and fentanyl on the incidence and severity of emergence agitation after sevoflurane anesthesia in pediatrics

Abstract EN

Introduction The occurrence of emergence agitation (EA) in pediatric patients who received sevofl urane anesthesia is a common postoperative problem.

Purpose This study aimed to compare the effi cacy of propofol versus fentanyl to decrease the incidence of EA using an emergence behavior scale – pediatric agitation emergence delirium ( PAED).

Patients and methods This study was performed on three patient groups undergoing the same surgical procedure, under sevofl urane anesthesia: the fi rst received saline as a control, the second received propofol, and the third received fentanyl.

Thereafter, we compared the effi cacy on incidence and severity of EA using an emergence behavior scale – PAED.

Results Regarding the frequency of agitation, the highest frequency was observed in the control group followed by the propofol group and then the fentanyl group (46.9, 18.8, and 12.5%, respectively).

The onset of agitation was delayed in the propofol and fentanyl groups when compared with the control group (P < 0.01 and 0.02, respectively).

There was no statistically signifi cant difference between the three groups regarding the duration of agitation.

The PAED scoring revealed no signifi cant difference between the propofol and fentanyl groups (P = 0.239), but a highly signifi cant difference between both of them and the control group was found (P < 0.001).

Conclusion Both propofol and fentanyl decrease the incidence and the severity of EA, but there is no reliable signifi cance when comparing both drugs.

We recommend further studies to declare other drugs that have potency to decrease the incidence and to treat the EA.