J Formos Med Assoc
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Postoperative short-term sedation with propofol in cardiac surgery.
We conducted a randomized double-blind study to assess the safety and effectiveness of short-term sedation with propofol in adult patients immediately after cardiac surgery. Sixty hemodynamically stable adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery were randomly assigned to receive propofol postoperatively or no postoperative sedation. The propofol group (n = 30) received propofol infusion (1 mg.kg-1.hr-1) immediately after they awoke postoperatively. ⋯ Subjective evaluations (scored on an analog scale: 0 = nil, 10 = extreme) revealed that patients receiving propofol felt less pain than those in the control group (2.3 +/- 2.7 vs 4.7 +/- 3.1, p < 0.05), had better sleep quality (7.8 +/- 2.9 vs 5.1 +/- 2.9, p < 0.05), and were more satisfied with the care they received (8.3 +/- 2.2 vs 5.8 +/- 3.9, p < 0.05). These findings suggest that propofol infusion is effective for short-term sedation of cardiac surgery patients postoperatively and that an infusion rate adequate to maintain a Ramsay score of 3 may be ideal. Postoperative sedation should be considered for all cardiac surgery patients, not only those with outward signs of anxiety or agitation.