Comparison of Midazolam and Thiopentone as Induction Agents in General Anaesthesia

Abstract

A single blind parallel group study was performed in 137 patients undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia to compare the efficacy and tolerability of midazolam 0.15 to 0.25 mglkg or thiopentone 6 mglkg. Induction time was 45.0±17.1 sees in midazolam group in comparison to 32.0±9.5 sees in thiopentone group and the frequency of apnoea was 11.5% and 17.1% respectively. There was no difference in the duration of apnoea in the two groups. No venous intolerance was experienced during the study. It appears that midazolam is a suitable alternative to thiopentone and would be of value where the latter is contraindicated.MJAFI 2001; 57: 213-214

A comparative study of induction characteristics of thiopentone, midazolam and propofol in elderly patients

“…Earlier study by Coolong KJ et al had similar result where the surgical procedure continued longer than 2 hours. 10 This is in contrast to studies by Shah PJ et al and Henriksson BA et al which showed that propofol has significantly shorter recovery time than thiopentone. 4,12 This could be explained by the very short procedures which they studied.…”

“…Moreover, they have got significant pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic variability. 1,9,10 Thiopentone is the most commonly used intravenous induction agent in elderly people. There was no significant difference in the time to loss of eye lash reflex in the propofol and thiopentone groups.…”

“…5,6,7 The pharmacokienetic of drugs are frequently defined in groups of healthy , normal, young male volunteers. 8,9,10 The patients to whom the drugs are subsequently administered therapeutically however, are often elderly with perhaps multiple disease processes. As far as the elderly patients are concerned, agents that cause least physiological interference with rapid recovery have to be chosen.…”