Table 1.

Characteristics of the included papers. ASA, American Society of Anesthesiologists; FLACC, Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability; FPS, Faces Pain Scale; NR, not reported; VRS, Verbal Rating Scale; VAS, Visual Analogue Scale.

Study	Year	Country	Number of participants	Age	Type of surgery	ASA class	Maintenance anaesthesia dose		Type of pain scale
							Sevoflurane	Propofol
Guard and colleagues32	1998	Canada	50	2–8 yr	Penile, hernia/hydrocele, orchidopexy, hypospadias and hernia	NR	2.5%	5–10 mg kg−1 h−1	NR
Rüsch and colleagues33	1999	Germany	105	3–8 yr	Strabismus repair	NR	1%–1.5%	10 mg kg−1 h−1	NR
Lovstad and Stoen34	2001	Norway	42	NR	Osteotomy	NR	NR	4–10 mg kg−1 h−1	5-point categorical VRS
Schmidt and colleagues35	2001	Germany	120	6 months to 16 yr	Lower abdominal surgery	1 or 2	2.4%–3.3%	7.5 mg kg−1 h−1	Modified Objective Pain Discomfort Scale
Cohen and colleagues36	2003	USA	53	2 months–36 months	General surgery, urology, otolaryngology, orthopaedics, plastic surgery, ophthalmology	NR	1.5%–2.5%	200 μg kg−1 min−1	Objective Pain Scale
Cohen and colleagues37	2004	USA	56	<3 yr	Infraumbilical and suprasternal procedures	NR	1.5%–2.5%	200 μg kg−1 min−1	NR
Auerswald and colleagues38	2006	Germany	103	1–5 yr	Adenoidectomy and adenotonsillectomy	NR	2%–3%	5 mg kg−1 h−1	Smiley–Wert
Chandler and colleagues39	2013	Canada	94	2–6 yr	Strabismus repair	1 or 2	NR	NR	FLACC
Hasani and colleagues3	2013	Kosova	88	3–6 yr	Hernia repair	1 or 2	1.5%–2%	9 mg kg−1 h−1	FPS
Oriby and Elrashidy40	2021	Qatar	84	3–11 yr	Strabismus repair	1 or 2	NR	4 mg kg−1 h−1	FLACC
Sheikhzade and colleagues41	2021	Iran	80	2–10 yr	Herniotomy, orchiopexy, frenulectomy, and sigmoidoscopy	1 or 2	2%–3%	100–250 μg kg−1 min−1	Wong–Baker Faces Pain Rating Scale
Lopéz and colleagues42	1999	NR	120	6 months to 12 yr	Minor surgery below the umbilicus (e.g. inguinal hernia, circumcision, orchidopexy)	NR	1.7%	5 mg kg−1 h−1	NR
König and colleagues43	2009	USA	179	2–12 yr	Ambulatory dental surgery	NR	2%	120–250 μg kg−1 min−1	FLACC, Oucher, and VAS