• Guangrong Dai, Lili Pei, Fenyu Duan, Minhui Liao, Yanke Zhang, Mengxue Zhu, Zhibin Zhao, and Xiaobao Zhang.
• Department of Anesthesiology, The Affiliated Lianyungang Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Lianyungang, China.
• Minerva Anestesiol. 2021 Oct 1; 87 (10): 1073-1079.

BackgroundRemimazolam is a new ultrashort acting benzodiazepine anesthetic which has predictable sedative duration and rapid recovery in gastrointestinal endoscopy. Propofol is a commonly used intravenous anesthetic in clinical work which also has rapid action, short action time and rapid recovery. To date, there have been relatively few articles comparing the two for general anesthesia induction. So, we conducted a randomized trial to evaluate whether remimazolam is superior to propofol during anesthesia induction in terms of efficacy and safety.MethodsOne hundred and eighty nine ASA I or II patients scheduled for elective surgery were divided into four groups: remimazolam 0.2 mg/kg (R1 group), 0.3 mg/kg (R2 group), 0.4 mg/kg (R3 group), and propofol group (P group). All patients were anesthetized with single shots of experimental drugs during induction period. Efficacy was measured by completing the induction of anesthesia without rescue sedation; and safety was defined as no severe adverse events.ResultsSuccess induction rates in remimazolam groups were 89% (R1 group), 94% (R2 group) and 100% (R3 group) while success induction rate in P group was 100%. Hypotension rates during induction were lower in R1 group (13%) and R2 group (24%) compared with P group (44%). Hypotension rate in R3 group (34%) was similar to propofol (44%). Injection site pain in group P was 27% while no pain was observed in remimazolam groups.ConclusionsRemimazolam is a safe and effective sedative drug during induction with less adverse effects for general anesthesia in ASA I or II patients.

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