Originally published by 2 Minute Medicine^® (view original article). Reused on AccessMedicine with permission.

1. Ciprofol was just as effective to propofol for general anesthesia induction in patients undergoing gynecological surgery and presents fewer adverse events.

Evidence Rating Level: 1 (Excellent)

In anesthesia practice, propofol is traditionally used to induce and maintain general anesthesia. While it does have a strong utility, propofol also may cause several adverse effects such as the inhibition of the circulatory and respiratory systems. As such, alternative drug choices for general anesthesia are needed. Ciprofol is a newly developed, short-acting GABA receptor which has been thought to be more potent than propofol with minor residual side effects, although there is limited data available regarding its use. This randomized control trial aims to investigate the safety and efficacy of ciprofol when used to induce general anesthesia in individuals undergoing gynecological surgery, compared to propofol. A total of 120 women planned for gynecological surgery were randomly assigned to either ciprofol or propofol groups, and success rate of general anesthesia induction was assessed. The results of this study identified no significant differences between the ciprofol and propofol groups with regards to onset of successful anesthetic induction (35.4 vs 34.8, respectively). Additionally, for patients in the ciprofol group, blood pressure values decreased significantly less compared to the propofol group, suggesting a less adverse effect on the cardiovascular system. In conclusion, ciprofol is non-inferior to propofol when used for the induction of general anesthesia and poses less serious adverse events. However, this study continues to be limited as participants with pre-existing respiratory or cardiovascular conditions were not included in the study and the sample size was limited. As well, this study only examined patients undergoing gynecological surgery; however, patients undergoing other types of surgery may respond differently to these anesthetics. Nevertheless, as the findings of this study do support the efficacy and safety of ciprofol, further research is warranted.

Click to read the study in BMC Anesthesiology

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