Abstract

PIP: 60 outpatients who submitted to termination of pregnancy at less than 12 weeks gestation (legal abortion) were randomly anesthetized with fentanyl + thiopentone, ketamine + diazepam, thiopentone + halotane, or thiopentone + enflurane. Each patient breathed spontaneously 3 liters/minute of nitrous oxide. The psychomotor recovery time was evaluated by means of the Zazzo test of "deux barrages" and the matrix attentive test. The anesthesia time and the intra- and postoperative side effects were recorded too. There was a greater frequency of nausea, vomiting, headache, and postoperative restlessness in those patients anesthetized with ketamine + diazepam. This anesthetic mixture induced a longer psychomotor recovery time. On the other hand, in patients anesthetized with fentanyl + thipentone, the authors observed a need for intraoperative additional analgesia during dilatation of the cervix. On the contrary, either technique with the volatile anesthetic agents halothane or enflurane is satisfactory for outpatient termination of pregnancy. When compared with the total intravenous anesthetic technique, the use of enflurane resulted in swifter recovery and minimal side effects and proved to be a safe and reliable anesthetic for this procedure. (author's)