Table 4.
Mean percentage of hours of optimal sedation (intent to treat population)
Remifentanil (n = 77) | Fentanyl (n = 75) | P | ||
Maintenance phase | ||||
Median duration (h; range) | 13.7 (2.7–73.0) | 14.2 (0.3–73.3) | NT | |
Mean (range) % of hours of optimal sedation | 88.3 (0.0–100.0) | 89.3 (32.5–100.0) | NS* | |
Ratio of between-patient variability (fentanyl versus remifentanil) | 1.09 | NS† | ||
Maintenance phase (excluding the patient in the remifentanil group who failed to achieve an SAS score of 4) | ||||
Mean (range) % of hours of optimal sedation | 89.5 (45.2–100.0) | 89.3 (32.5–100.0) | NS* | |
Ratio of between-patient variability (fentanyl versus remifentanil) | 1.84 | 0.009† | ||
Extubation phase | ||||
Mean (range) % of hours of optimal sedation | 87.7 (0.0–100.0) | 95.5 (40.0–100.0) | NT | |
Postextubation phase | ||||
Mean (range) % of hours of optimal sedation | 92.3 (0.0–100.0) | 95.7 (32.3–100.0) | NT | |
Post-treatment period | ||||
Mean (range) % of hours of optimal sedation | 92.6 (0.0–100.0) | 91.6 (0.0–100.0) | NT |
*Unpaired t-test on arcsine square root transformed data; †F test. NS, not significant; NT, not tested; SAS, Sedation–Agitation Scale.