Background: In day care anesthesia, postoperative recovery is of importance. In addition to economical gains, the inconvenience, which is avoided, and the time gained by the patient to resume daily life are notable. Objective: To compare the induction and recovery profiles of the propofol with thiopentone in day care patients. Materials and Methods: A prospective, randomized, patient-blinded, parallel-group, noncrossover trial carried out in Department of Anesthesia of our teaching hospital. Hundred females of ASA group I and II aged between 20 and 45 years, scheduled for minor gynecological procedures, were randomly allocated to two groups that received either propofol or thiopentone. Induction time was measured. The occurrences of cough/hiccup, pain, apneic episodes, twitching, or movements during induction and maintenance were recorded. Blood pressure, SpO 2 , and pulse rate were recorded at intervals. During recovery, waking time, talking time, sitting time, and standing time were observed. Psychomotor recovery was studied by the performance of aiming test and dexterity test. The patients were observed for complaints of any adverse effects up to 4 h of recovery. Independent statistician applied unpaired t-test, repeated-measures ANOVA, and Fischer's exact test, according to requirements, using GraphPad Prism, 5.01. Result: In this study, the mean induction dose of propofol was 2.31 ± 0.01 mg/kg and thiopentone was 4.55 ± 0.02 mg/kg. The mean induction time was 30.16 ± 1.23 and 29.56 ± 1.16 min, respectively. Apnea was 50% with propofol induction, and only 30% with thiopentone. Involuntary movements were more in propofol group, whereas hiccup/cough was more with thiopentone. There was significant fall in blood pressures in propofol group during induction. Recovery was faster with propofol, than thiopentone. Postoperative aiming scores and dexterity time in thiopentone group were significantly low than those in the propofol group. Comparison with baseline scores, at first and second hours, showed significantly low scores in thiopentone group, but at 4 h, the difference was not statistically significant in either group. Adverse effects were more common with thiopentone. Conclusion: The recovery characteristics of propofol are superior to those of thiopentone. The return of psychomotor performance and cognitive functions are more rapid in propofol group.
