• G Kostopanagiotou, A Pandazi, S Matiatou, S Kontogiannopoulou, P Matsota, D Niokou, M Kitsou, E Crepi, K Christodoulaki, and I Grigoropoulou.
• University of Athens, Attikon Hospital, School of Medicine, Athens, Greece.
• Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2006 May 1;23(5):418-21.

Background And ObjectiveWe examined the efficacy of intraoperative propofol administration to prevent pruritus induced by epidural morphine.MethodsSeventy patients ASA I-II undergoing combined epidural and general anaesthesia for hysterectomy were randomly assigned to two groups, Group P where anaesthesia was induced with propofol and fentanyl and maintained with propofol-nitrous oxide and Group S in which anaesthesia was induced with thiopental and fentanyl and maintained with sevoflurane-nitrous oxide. All patients received a ropivacaine epidural bolus with 3 mg morphine 1 h before the end of surgery. The incidence and severity of pruritus were evaluated every 4 h for the first 12 h postoperatively by blinded observers.ResultsThe total incidence of pruritus was significantly higher (P = 0.024) in Group S (65.6%) compared to Group P (29%) between 4 and 8 h postoperatively. There were also significantly more patients (P = 0.03) reporting severe pruritus in Group S (22%) compared to Group P (0).ConclusionPropofol-based general anaesthesia compared to thiopental-sevoflurane-based anaesthesia reduces the incidence and severity of pruritus induced by a single injection of 3 mg epidural morphine with ropivacaine.

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