Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine logoLink to Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
. 1991 Aug;84(8):481–483. doi: 10.1177/014107689108400811

Preanaesthetic medication: a survey of current usage.

R K Mirakhur 1
PMCID: PMC1293378  PMID: 1886116

Abstract

A survey has been carried out amongst the UK based members of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland regarding their practice of premedication. Ninety-three per cent of respondents (reply rate 51.7%) used sedative-hypnotic premedication routinely in adults and 84% in children. However, anticholinergic premedication was used by only 36% in adults and 56% in children. Temazepam was the most frequently used sedative premedicant in adults and trimeprazine in children. Atropine and hyoscine were the most frequently used anticholinergic drugs. The main reasons for using sedative-hypnotic premedication were allaying anxiety and providing sedation. The main reasons for using anticholinergic drugs were drying of secretions and protection against vagal overactivity. This survey concludes that while sedative-hypnotic premedication continues to be used in the majority of patients with oral benzodiazepines the most frequently used drugs, the use of anti-cholinergic premedication continues to decline.

Full text

PDF
481

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alpert C. C., Baker J. D., Cooke J. E. A rational approach to anaesthetic premedication. Drugs. 1989 Feb;37(2):219–228. doi: 10.2165/00003495-198937020-00009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Egbert L. D., Battit GE, Turndorf H., Beecher H. K. The value of the preoperative visit by an anesthetist. A study of doctor-patient rapport. JAMA. 1963 Aug 17;185(7):553–555. doi: 10.1001/jama.1963.03060070021016. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Gamble J. A., Dundee J. W., Assaf R. A. Plasma diazepam levels after single dose oral and intramuscular administration. Anaesthesia. 1975 Mar;30(2):164–169. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1975.tb00828.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. HOLT A. T. Premedication with atropine should not be routine. Lancet. 1962 Nov 10;2(7263):984–985. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(62)90742-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. INGLIS J. M., BARROW M. E. PREMEDICATION--A REASSESSMENT. Proc R Soc Med. 1965 Jan;58:29–32. doi: 10.1177/003591576505800108. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Johnston M. Anxiety in surgical patients. Psychol Med. 1980 Feb;10(1):145–152. doi: 10.1017/s0033291700039684. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kessell J. Atropine premedication. Anaesth Intensive Care. 1974 Feb;2(1):77–80. doi: 10.1177/0310057X7400200111. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Leigh J. M., Walker J., Janaganathan P. Effect of preoperative anaesthetic visit on anxiety. Br Med J. 1977 Oct 15;2(6093):987–989. doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6093.987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Leighton K. M., Sanders H. D. Anticholinergic premedication. Can Anaesth Soc J. 1976 Nov;23(6):563–566. doi: 10.1007/BF03006736. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lunn J. N., Farrow S. C., Fowkes F. G., Robertson I. B., Samuel P. Epidemiology in anaesthesia. I: Anaesthetic practice over 20 years. Br J Anaesth. 1982 Aug;54(8):803–809. doi: 10.1093/bja/54.8.803. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Madej T. H., Paasuke R. T. Anaesthetic premedication: aims, assessment and methods. Can J Anaesth. 1987 May;34(3 ):259–273. doi: 10.1007/BF03015163. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mirakhur R. K., Clarke R. S., Dundee J. W., McDonald J. R. Anticholinergic drugs in anaesthesia. A survey of their present position. Anaesthesia. 1978 Feb;33(2):133–138. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.1978.tb08340.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mirakhur R. K., Clarke R. S., Elliott J., Dundee J. W. Atropine and glycopyrronium premedication. A comparison of the effects on cardiac rate and rhythm during induction of anaesthesia. Anaesthesia. 1978 Nov-Dec;33(10):906–912. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Mirakhur R. K. Comparative study of the effects of oral and i.m. atropine and hyoscine in volunteers. Br J Anaesth. 1978 Jun;50(6):591–598. doi: 10.1093/bja/50.6.591. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mirakhur R. K., Dundee J. W., Jones C. J. Evaluation of the anticholinergic actions of glycopyrronium bromide. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1978 Jan;5(1):77–84. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1978.tb01601.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Murrin K. R. A study of oral atropine in healthy adult subjects. Br J Anaesth. 1973 May;45(5):475–480. doi: 10.1093/bja/45.5.475. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Norris W., Baird W. L. Pre-operative anxiety: a study of the incidence and aetiology. Br J Anaesth. 1967 Jun;39(6):503–509. doi: 10.1093/bja/39.6.503. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. ORKIN L. R., BERGMAN P. S., NATHANSON M. Effect of atropine, scopolamine and meperidine on man. Anesthesiology. 1956 Jan;17(1):30–37. doi: 10.1097/00000542-195601000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine are provided here courtesy of Royal Society of Medicine Press

RESOURCES