The Investigation of the Dose Range of Remimazolam Besylate in Different Age Groups of Adults and Its Effects on Hemodynamics

Surgery is an effective method to treat surgical diseases, prolong survival time and improve the quality of life, but patients often face the risk of postoperative complications. In general surgery patients, complications occur in more than 30% of patients. Several observational studies have shown that the severity and duration of intraoperative hypotension are significantly related to the risk of postoperative adverse events such as myocardial injury, renal injury, stroke, delirium, prolonged hospitalization, and death.

Hypotension, defined as a systolic blood pressure of less than 90 mmHg, a diastolic blood pressure of less than 50 mmHg, or a 20% reduction in systolic blood pressure from baseline, is common during anesthesia and surgery. More than a third of patients receiving propofol sedation experience intraoperative hypotension events, and their duration and degree are associated with harm during surgery.

Remimazolam is a new ultra-short-acting sedative drug developed in recent years, which has a similar structure to midazolam. However, compared with midazolam, remimazolam has the advantages of faster onset, faster recovery, and higher safety. Compared with propofol, remimazolam is noninferior in the success rate of sedation, while the incidence of adverse events such as hypotension is lower. At present, remimazolam has completed phase III clinical studies in many fields, such as colonoscopy, fiberoptic bronchoscopy, and general anesthesia induction and maintenance, which have shown its safety and effectiveness. However, there may be differences in hemodynamics and drug sensitivity among patients of different ages. Compared with young patients, elderly patients have a higher risk of hypotension after anesthesia induction. At present, there is a lack of clinical studies with large samples to clarify the recommended dose of remimazolam for anesthesia induction and maintenance in patients of all ages. The updated instructions for remimazolam besylate for injection on March 28, 2022 also mention that remimazolam besylate is used as a sedative drug for general anesthesia induction and maintenance, and the relevant dose reference is given. However, the safety and effectiveness of patients over 65 years have not been confirmed. The precise regulation of clinical use for patients of different ages and the optimization of drug dosage during anesthesia induction and maintenance are the basis for ensuring the safety of clinical medication at present., in order to maintain the stability of perioperative hemodynamics, and prevent or reduce the occurrence of adverse cardiovascular events.

This study aims to investigate the effect of remimazolam total intravenous anesthesia on intraoperative hemodynamics and the drug requirement for patients of different ages, with propofol as the control, and intraoperative hemodynamics as the main evaluation index, so as to provide evidence for clinical application of remimazolam for elderly patients in anesthesia induction and maintenance.