Table 5.
Adverse events.
| Adverse events | Propofol group (n=360) | Etomidate group (n=355) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 224 (62.22%) | 166 (46.76%) | <0.001 |
| Upper airway obstruction | 2 (0.56%) | 1 (0.28%) | 1 |
| Hyoxemia | 77 (21.39%) | 45 (12.68%) | 0.002 |
| Apnoea | 0 (0.00%) | 0 (0.00%) | NA |
| Changes of heart rate and rhythm | 31 (8.61%) | 31 (8.73%) | 1 |
| Hypotension | 7 (1.94%) | 10 (2.82%) | 0.473 |
| Injection pain | 81 (22.50%) | 3 (0.85%) | <0.001 |
| Body quiver | 155 (43.06%) | 68 (69.15%) | <0.001 |
| Myoclonus | 3 (0.83%) | 16 (4.51%) | 0.002 |
| Nausea-vomiting | 1 (0.28%) | 0 (0.00%) | NA |
| Deliration/multilingual/hallucination | 0 (0.00%) | 0 (0.00%) | NA |
NA – not applicable due to low event rate.
- Upper airway obstruction: point 0, no obstruction; point 1, mild snoring but normal aspiration; point 2, serious snoring or presence of depression sign on aspiration but with near normal ventilation; point 3, dependence on oropharyngeal airway or elevation of mandible.
- Hypoxaemia: point 1, SpO2 96–100%; point 2, 91–95%; point 3, 86–90%; point 4, <85% requiring assisted ventilation.
- Apnoea: point 0, apnoea ≤20 seconds; point 1, apnoea >20 seconds.
- Changes in heart rate and rhythm: point 0, heart rate ≥50 bpm or ≤120 bpm or absence of arrhythmia; point 1, heart rate <50 bpm or >120 bpm or presence of arrhythmia.
- Hypotension: point 0, systolic blood pressure ≥ 70% of the baseline or 80/50 mmHg; point 1, systolic blood pressure <70% of the baseline or 80/50 mmHg.
- Injection site pain: point 0, no response to the inquiry; point 1, mild response to the inquiry but without limb movement; point 2, moderate response to the inquiry but with obvious limb movement and spontaneous complaint of pain; point 3, severe response to the inquiry with attempt to withdraw the injected hand or presence of lacrimation. Injection site pain was continuously monitored until the patient became unconscious.
- Body movement: point 0, no body movement; point 1, digital movement not adversely affecting the examination; point 2, obvious limb or trunk movement adversely affecting the examination.
- Fasciculation: point 1, no visible muscle contraction; point 2, minimal extremity contraction; point 3, mild facial, trunk or limb muscle contraction; point 4, aggressive facial, trunk or limb muscle contraction even with limb twitch.
- Nausea and vomiting: point 1, no nausea or vomiting; point 2, mild nausea and upper abdominal discomfort without vomiting; point 3, obvious nausea and vomiting but without vomitus; point 4, serious vomiting of gastric fluid and other gastric content requiring medical intervention.
- Delirium/logorrhoea/delusion: point 0, absence of delirium/logorrhoea/delusion; point 1, presence of delirium/logorrhoea/delusion.