• Ira T Cohen, Julia C Finkel, Raafat S Hannallah, and David B Goodale.
• Department of Anesthesiology, Children's National Medical Center and George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA. icohen@cnmc.org
• Paediatr Anaesth. 2004 Feb 1; 14 (2): 135-42.

BackgroundPropofol is frequently used for the induction and maintenance of anaesthesia in children aged 3 years and older. The present study compared the clinical and chemical effects of propofol containing disodium edetate (Diprivan) with that of sevoflurane in children younger than 3 years of age.MethodsThis was an open-label, comparative, parallel-group study. Fifty-six healthy children were randomly assigned to receive either propofol (n=28; mean age 14.7 months) or sevoflurane (n=28; mean age 13.2 months) for ambulatory surgical procedures. Anaesthesia was induced with nitrous oxide (60%), oxygen and sevoflurane (8%). In the propofol group, it was followed by an intravenous infusion of propofol at a rate of 200 microg.kg(-1).min(-1). For the sevoflurane group, anaesthesia was maintained with sevoflurane (1.5-2.5%). Haemodynamic measurements, recovery time and side-effects were recorded. Ionized calcium and magnesium concentrations in blood were measured. Statistical analysis was performed using ancova and the Fisher's exact test.ResultsThe effects of propofol were similar to those of sevoflurane with respect to haemodynamic profile, recovery times (20 min vs 19.4 min) and side-effects (i.e. vomiting 10.7% vs 7.1%). Throughout the study, there were no significant differences between the mean ionized calcium and ionized magnesium concentrations in the two groups.ConclusionsIn children younger than 3 years of age, propofol containing ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid has a similar profile to sevoflurane with respect to haemodynamic effects, recovery times, side-effects, ionized calcium and ionized magnesium levels.

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