Does the combination of propofol and fentanyl act synergistically for induction of anaesthesia in women undergoing minor gynaecological surgery?
Propofol and fentanyl act additively, not synergistically, for the induction of anaesthesia.
The induction dose-response of propofol was compared with the dose-response of its combination with fentanyl and with that of fentanyl alone in three groups of 60 women undergoing minor gynaecological surgery. Dose-response curves were determined for each group using bootstrap and isobolographic analyses. Propofol was found to act additively with fentanyl for induction of anaesthesia. Twenty-three percent of the ED50 of fentanyl was required in combination with 75% of the ED50 for propofol to achieve the ED50 of the combination. This indicates that, for induction of anaesthesia, propofol and fentanyl are not synergistic.
Ben‐Shlomo et al. (1993) studied this question.