Midazolam Effect on Agitation Postnasal Surgery: A Double Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial

This is a prospective, single centre, double blinded randomized controlled trial, which was conducted from May 2021 to November 2021. An ethical approval was obtained from the local research ethical board in the Jordanian Royal Medical Services on May 26, 2021, in addition to an informed written consent from every patient. Subjects with American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) of either grade 1 or 2, aged from 16 to 59 years, undergoing nasal surgery such as; septoplasty (SP), open septorhinoplasty (OSRP) and functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS) were included in the study. A sample size of 100, 50 in each group was found to be enough to achieve the study purposes using G*Power computer program, considering alpha set at 0.05; medium effect size and study power 80%. Subjects were randomly assigned into two groups, midazolam group and placebo group. In the midazolam group, patients double blindly received 0.03 mg.kg-1 midazolam intravenously just before emergence from general anesthesia. On the other hand, placebo group's patients double blindly received normal saline of similar volume to midazolam just before emergence from general anesthesia. A computerized random number generator was utilized to provide the codes for midazolam and normal saline syringes. Patients otherwise received the same general anesthetic technique, including medications and equipments by the same anesthesiologist. The maximum Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale (RASS) score, from the time of extubation till patient's handover to postanesthesia care unit (PACU) was observed and documented by the same anesthesiologist and it was the basis for agitation diagnosis, therefore, the primary outcome was RASS score of +2 or more.

Anesthetic technique: No premedication was given to any patient. All patients received intravenous fentanyl 1.5 mcg.kg-1, propofol 2 mg.kg-1 and cisatracurium 0.2 mg.kg-1 for induction of general anesthesia. This was followed by manual ventilation for 4 minutes and intubation. Anesthesia was maintained by 1 MAC (Minimal Alveolar Concentration) of desflurane for all patients, in addition to remifentanil infusion (0.02 - 2.0 mcg.kg-1.minute-1) to aid analgesia and controlled hypotension with a mean arterial pressure not less than 60 mm Hg. An oropharyngeal pack was inserted for everyone and taken out gently before emergence and extubation. All patients received dexamethasone 8 mg, ondansetron 4 mg, 1 gram of paracetamol and 0.1 mg.kg-1 morphine intravenously. Morphine was given at the end of surgery by the time of turning the remifentanil infusion off. Midazolam or normal saline was randomly and blindly administered to patients using a 3 ml syringe (1mg.ml-1) at time of turning the remifentanil infusion off. By the end of surgery, desflurane was turned off and nobody received reversal for the cisatracurium, then smooth suctioning of the oral cavity was performed followed by awake extubation. No stimulation was used to aid patient's recovery except for gentle verbal commands.