Is propofol a safe alternative to pentobarbital for sedation during pediatric diagnostic CT?
OBJECTIVE
To prospectively compare the incidence of adverse respiratory events, the need for airway interventions, and the recovery time after propofol sedation with similar data from a retrospective review of data obtained in patients who underwent pentobarbital sedation.


METHODS
This HIPAA-compliant study was conducted with institutional review board approval and parental informed consent. The hospital sedation committee approved a 2-month pilot program of propofol sedation as a potential alternative to pentobarbital sedation. Parents were given the choice of having their child sedated with intravenously administered propofol or pentobarbital. Fifty-two patients (18 female, 34 male; mean age, 2.9 years +/- 2.4 [standard deviation]) received propofol. An equal number of patients (21 female, 31 male; mean age, 2.5 years +/- 1.7) who previously received pentobarbital were included. The sample sizes provided 80% power to detect differences in airway manipulations, adverse respiratory events, and recovery time between the groups by using the Fisher exact test and the Student t test. A two-tailed P value of less than .05 indicated a significant difference.


RESULTS
Patients sedated with propofol underwent significantly more airway manipulations to relieve obstruction than did patients sedated with pentobarbital (23% vs 0%, P < .001). More adverse respiratory events occurred in the propofol group than in the pentobarbital group (12% vs 0%, P = .03). Patients in the propofol group had a faster recovery profile than did patients in the pentobarbital group (34 minutes +/- 17 vs 100 minutes +/- 30, P < .001).


CONCLUSIONS
Propofol is associated with a significantly greater incidence of adverse respiratory events than is pentobarbital.
Zgleszewski
Steven E
SE
Department of Anesthesia, Children's Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA. steven.zgleszewski@childrens.harvard.edu
Zurakowski
David
D
Fontaine
Paulette J
PJ
D'Angelo
Margaret
M
Mason
Keira P
KP
D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016292:Procedural Sedation / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D015742:Propofol / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D010424:Pentobarbital; D015742:Propofol