A review of recovery from sevoflurane anaesthesia: Comparisons with isoflurane and propofol including meta-analysis

Background: Sevoflurane has a lower blood:gas partition coefficient than is oflurane and thus should be associated with a more rapid recovery from anae sthesia. Methods: A review and meta-analysis were employed to examine the recovery p rofiles of adult patients following anaesthesia, comparing sevoflurane to i soflurane and sevoflurane to propofol. Results: There were significant differences in times to several recovery ev ents that favoured sevoflurane to isoflurane anaesthesia, including time to emergence, response to commands, extubation, and orientation. Likewise, th ere were significant differences in times to the same recovery events follo wing anaesthesia with sevoflurane versus propofol. There were no difference s in time to recovery room discharge when comparing sevoflurane to isoflura ne or propofol. Conclusion: The observed differences between sevoflurane and isoflurane or propofol anaesthesia support the postulate that the use of sevoflurane is a ssociated with a more rapid recovery from anaesthesia than either isofluran e or propofol.