Abstract

Background: In the modern practice of anaesthesia and intensive care, the intensivist are very concerned about the stressful environment in which patients often experience anxiety, pain and inability to sleep. Sedation for the patients in the ICU is used primarily to increase patient comfort through the provision of anxiolysis, analgesia and sedation to minimize resistance to mechanical ventilation.

Material & Methods: The study was carried out in patients admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of IGIMS, PATNA. After approval from ethical committee Forty adult patients, between ASA I to III, who were intubated and expected to be mechanically ventilated for a period of approximately twenty four hours were included in the study

Results: We compared the quality of sedation using Ramsay sedation score. At the start of the study 8 patients in propofol group and 6 patient in midazolam group were agitated (RSS = 1). By one hour from start of sedation the numbers had decreased to only 1 patient in propofol group whereas 3 patients in midazolam group were still agitated. Eighteen patients in the propofol group had a baseline Ramsay score of less than optimal (RSS = 3), compared to 16 patients in midazolam group. By end of 1 hr from start of infusion, 9 patients in propofol group had achieved the sedation score of 3 in contrast to only 5 patients in midazolam group.

Conclusion: The conclusions of our study is Both propofol and midazolam were effective in providing adequate level of sedation. However propofol provided significantly higher occasions of optimal sedation compared to midazolam. Weaning from mechanical ventilation was significantly better in propofol.