The safety and efficacy between remimazolam and propofol in intravenous anaesthesia of endoscopy operation: a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: International journal of surgery (London, England) Vol. 109; no. 11; pp. 3566 - 3577
• Main Authors: Zhao, Mei-Ji, Hu, Hai-Feng, Li, Xin-Lei, Li, Xiao-Ming, Wang, Da-Chuan, Kuang, Ming-Jie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.11.2023
• ISSN: 1743-9159; 1743-9159
• DOI: 10.1097/JS9.0000000000000638

Propofol is the most widely used intravenous anesthetic in endoscopic surgery, but is associated with several adverse reactions. Public research has shown that remimazolam, a safe general anesthetic, is increasingly being used as a substitute for propofol in clinical operations. Our meta-analysis aimed to analyze whether the adverse reaction rate of remimazolam in endoscopic surgery is acceptable and whether the surgical success rate is not lower than that of propofol. This meta-analysis examined the adverse events and efficacy of remimazolam vs. propofol during endoscopic surgery. MEDLINE, EMBASE, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google Scholar were comprehensively searched. Seven studies comparing remimazolam and propofol were included in our meta-analysis. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and Cochrane manual were used to assess the quality of the results published in all included studies to ensure that our meta-analysis results are reliable and worthwhile. Compared to propofol, the use of remimazolam reduced postoperative injection pain [Relative Risk (RR)=0.06, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.03-0.12, P<0.00001], postoperative hypotension (RR=0.45, 95% CI: 0.28-0.73, P=0.001), and postoperative respiratory depression (RR=0.20, 95% CI: 0.08-0.47, P=0.0002); however, it also slightly reduced the success rate of the operation [Risk Difference (RD)=-0.02, 95% CI: -0.04--0.01, P=0.0007]. There were no significant differences in the occurrence of bradycardia symptoms after the operation (RD=-0.01, 95% CI: -0.03-0.01, P=0.35), recovery time after the operation [STD Mean Difference (SMD)=0.68, 95% CI: -0.43-1.80, P=0.23] or discharge time (SMD=0.17, 95% CI: -0.58-0.23, P=0.41). We also performed a subgroup analysis of each corresponding outcome. Our analysis showed that remimazolam may be a safer shock option than propofol for endoscopic surgery. However, further research is required to determine their utility.