A review of recovery from sevoflurane anaesthesia: comparisons with isoflurane and propofol including meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Sevoflurane has a lower blood:gas partition coefficient than isoflurane and thus should be associated with a more rapid recovery from anaesthesia. METHODS A review and meta-analysis were employed to examine the recovery profiles of adult patients following anaesthesia, comparing sevoflurane to isoflurane and sevoflurane to propofol. RESULTS There were significant differences in times to several recovery events that favoured sevoflurane to isoflurane anaesthesia, including time to emergence, response to commands, extubation, and orientation. Likewise, there were significant differences in times to the same recovery events following anaesthesia with sevoflurane versus propofol. There were no differences in time to recovery room discharge when comparing sevoflurane to isoflurane or propofol. CONCLUSION The observed differences between sevoflurane and isoflurane or propofol anaesthesia support the postulate that the use of sevoflurane is associated with a more rapid recovery from anaesthesia than either isoflurane or propofol.