Study	Reason for exclusion
Aantaa 1991	Not day case patients
Acil 2004	Not day case patients
Basar 2008	Not day case patients No discharge times
Bauer 2004	No information on discharge time
Bernard 1996	No information on ambulation or discharge
Bonazzi 1994	No information on post‐operative recovery No placebo group
Cashman 1989	Study designed to assess various psychomotor function tests
Chen 2008	Not day case patients
Evagelidis 2009	No assessment of recovery or discharge times
Hargreaves 1988	Not randomized trial
Imura 2002	Did not include discharge time
Ionescu 2008	Not day case patients
Jakobsen 1990	No information on postoperative recovery
Mackenzie 1989	Duplicate publication
Meridy 1982	Retrospective observational study
Meybohm 2007	Ineligible outcomes. Not day cases
Murdoch 1999	No placebo group
Nightingale 1988	No placebo group
Ohqvist 2004	Compared sedative effect and not anxiolysis
Quario 2008	Assessing co‐induction drug. No assessment of recovery or discharge times
Raeder 1986	No information on ambulation or discharge No placebo group
Raeder 1987	No assessment of early recovery from anaesthesia
Short 1989	No placebo group
Sun 2008	Assessing pre‐operative sedation No assessment of recovery or discharge times
Thomas 1986	Not day cases
Virkkila 1992	Surgery under local, not general anaesthetic
White 1984	Drugs given 2‐5 minutes before anaesthesia No postoperative assessment
Zeyneloglu 2008	Comparison of sedation techniques and not pre‐medication for general anaesthesia