A Comparison of Desflurane vs. Sevoflurane and the Time to Awakening and the Incidence and Severity of Cough

Goals for ambulatory surgery include providing optimal surgical conditions while ensuring a rapid early recovery without side effect. Dexter et al1 concluded in a meta-analysis that Desflurane can reduce the extubation time when compared to Sevoflurane. This potential benefit of Desflurane can be especially attractive in short ambulatory cases performed with general anesthesia with a laryngeal mask airway.

Although some studies have not shown a difference on perioperative cough and laryngospasm between Desflurane and Sevoflurane at clinically relevant doses.It has been reported in the literature that Desflurane causes cough4 and many providers avoid using Desflurane with a LMA (laryngeal mask airway) in the ambulatory setting. In this study we will also evaluate, as a secondary outcome, the presence and severity of perioperative cough and laryngospasm.

Previous investigators have demonstrated a more rapid resumption of normal daily activities after ambulatory surgery in patients anesthetized with Desflurane when compared with Sevoflurane.these investigators suggested a better quality of recovery when Desflurane is used probably due to a lower lipid solubility of Desflurane. We will also evaluate quality of recovery as a secondary outcome using a validated instrument.

Significance:

1. A more rapid awakening, especially, in a fast and high turnover cases that are performed with LMA can lead to a more cost effective utilization of operating room time 2. It has been reported that Desflurane causes more cough than Sevoflurane and Anesthesiologists avoid using Desflurane with LMA cases, this study will reinforce that there is no difference.