COMPARISON OF PATIENT-CONTROLLED SEDATION WITH EITHER METHOHEXITONE OR PROPOFOL

We studied 42 patients undergoing oral surgery under local anaesthesia with i.v. sedation, allocated randomly to receive either methohexiton e (group M) or propofol (group P) for controlled sedation (PCS). Group M self-administered 2.5-mg (0.5 ml) bolus doses of methohexitone and group P, 5-mg (0.5 ml) doses of propofol, without a lockout. The 0.5-m l bolus dose was delivered over 7.2 s for both drugs. The procedure wa s completed satisfactorily in all patients. Patients in both groups ac hieved their desired levels of sedation. No patient lost verbal contac t. Group M patients had higher heart rates during the procedure. The l owest Sp(O2) values recorded were 92% and 95% for group P and group M, respectively. Immediately after operation patients in group M reporte d that they felt more sleepy than those in group P (P < 0.01) but ther e were no differences at subsequent times. The results of the psychomo tor tests were comparable for the two groups after operation, except f or the ''posting box task'' at 15 min after operation when the mean de crement (compared with preoperative performance) was -3% for group P a nd -13% for group M (P < 0.05). More patients in group P complained of pain in their hand. We conclude that methohexitone is a suitable alte rnative drug to propofol for PCS.