The Addition of Intravenous Propofol and Ketorolac to a Sevoflurane Anesthetic Lessens Emergence Agitation in Children Having Bilateral Myringotomy with Tympanostomy Tube Insertion: A Prospective Observational Study

The aim of this prospective observational study was to determine if children undergoing bilateral myringotomy and tympanostomy tube insertion with a sevoflurane anesthetic plus intravenous propofol and ketorolac experienced a lower incidence of emergence agitation than those receiving a sevoflurane anesthetic alone. Duration of procedure, length of stay in post-anaesthesia care and level of nursing effort required to care for patients were also assessed. In this study, 49 children younger than 13 years of age received a sevoflurane anesthetic. Fifty-one percent of these patients also received a single injection of propofol 1 mg/kg and ketorolac 0.5 mg/kg at the end of the procedure. Patients were assessed for emergence agitation using the Pediatric Anesthesia Emergence Delirium scale in the post-anaesthesia care unit. Four children receiving a sevoflurane anesthetic alone experienced emergence agitation, while no children receiving propofol and ketorolac experienced emergence agitation (p = 0.05). The length of stay until discharge from the hospital was 6.98 min longer for patients receiving propofol and ketorolac but did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.23). Nurses reported greater ease in caring for patients receiving the propofol and ketorolac injection (recovery questionnaire score 4.50 vs. 3.75, p = 0.002). In this study, adding a single injection of intravenous propofol and ketorolac to the end of a brief sevoflurane anesthetic for bilateral myringotomy with tube insertion was associated with a lower incidence of emergence agitation without significantly increasing the time to discharge from the hospital.