THE EFFECT OF MIDAZOLAM PREMEDICATION ON IMPLICIT MEMORY ACTIVATION DURING ALFENTANIL-NITROUS OXIDE ANESTHESIA

Eighty-three patients cere given midazolam 0.1 mg.kg(-1) by intramuscu lar injection as premedication before general anaesthesia with alfenta nil-nitrous oxide. During anaesthesia patients were presented (through headphones) with either statements about common facts of some years a go (group A) (n = 43) or new verbal associations, e.g. names of fictit ious, nonfamous people (group B) (n = 40). In a previous study with th e same anaesthetic technique, but without premedication there was sign ificant activation of implicit memory (p < 0.001). In this study we fo und no explicit or implicit memory for the auditory information presen ted during anaesthesia. Midazolam premedication can prevent implicit m emory activation during alfentanil-nitrous oxide anaesthesia.