We found no evidence of a difference in time to discharge from hospital, assessed by clinical criteria, in patients who received anxiolytic premedication. However, in view of the age and variety of anaesthetic techniques used and clinical heterogeneity between studies, inferences for current day case practice should be made with caution.
Placebo controlled comparison of midazolam, triazolam and diazepam as oral premedicants for outpatient anaesthesia.
Two short-acting benzodiazepines, midazolam 15 mg and triazolam 0.25 mg, were compared with diazepam 10 mg and placebo as oral premedicants in 120 patients presenting for minor urological surgery. Midazolam was found to produce the greatest degree of amnesia and sedation at the time of anaesthetic induction and triazolam was found to have the greatest degree of residual sedation at the time of discharge, four hours postoperatively. These effects are consistent with the greater potency and more rapid onset of action of midazolam at this dose compared with triazolam. The relative merits of the compounds as anxiolytics varied depending upon the observer, time and method of assessment. It was considered that the doses of midazolam and triazolam used were excessive for routine day case anaesthesia.