ORAL PREMEDICATION ONE-HOUR BEFORE MINOR GYNECOLOGICAL SURGERY - DOESIT HAVE ANY EFFECT - A COMPARISON BETWEEN KETOBEMIDONE, LORAZEPAM, PROPRANOLOL AND PLACEBO

The purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of oral pr emedication with ketobemidone 5 mg, lorazepam 1 mg, propranolol 40 mg or placebo, given about an hour prior to anaesthesia, in a prospective randomized double-blind fashion. One hundred and twenty ASA I female patients scheduled for elective laparoscopy were randomly prescribed o ne of the study drugs. Patient evaluation of anxiety, nurse evaluation of premedication, induction and postoperative course were studied. Ni nety-three of the 120 patients (78%) experienced no change or a decrea se in anxiety, regardless of type of active drug or placebo administer ed. Eighty-eight of the patients (73%) were considered adequately prem edicated by the nurse observer, with no differences between the groups . Pre induction pulse rate, blood pressure and amount of induction age nt needed was also similar between the four groups of patients. No maj or differences could be seen during the postoperative course. We found no major effects of any of the active drugs studied compared to place bo. Routine use of small doses of oral premedication one hour before e lective surgery among low anxiety patients could probably be omitted.