English

Abstract

Day Care Surgery conducted under general anaesthesia, largely depends on anaesthetic agents which have shorter duration of action and hence are able to provide rapid recovery. In the present study we intend to compare the recovery profile of the two easily available agents in India i.e. isoflurane and halothane and compare their usefulness in day care surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 50 patients were randomly divided into two groups of 25 each in age group of 18 to 60 years, of either sex, of American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) grade I or II undergoing different surgeries of short duration up to half an hour, after proper preoperative screening. In both the groups induction was done with propofol 2 mg/kg. In group I patients, 1.0 Minimum Alveolar Concentration (MAC) halothane and in group II 1.0 MAC isoflurane was used for maintenance of general anesthesia along with mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide in the ratio of 40: 60. Narcotics and anti sialogogues that cross blood brain barrier were avoided, which may interfere with the recovery patterns. Postoperative recovery was divided into two phases and both the groups were compared by means of various clinical tests. RESULT: We found that early recovery following Isoflurane was more rapid compared to Halothane. The psychomotor tests to assess the intermediate recovery also showed the significant difference between the two groups with P value <0.001. More number of patients was able to sit up at half an hour and stand at two hours in the isoflurane group compared to halothane group. CONCLUSION: Isoflurane is a useful and better anesthetic over halothane and offers a clear advantage when used for maintenance of anaesthesia for operations performed on a day-care basis.