The Effects of Switching from Sevoflurane to Short‐Term Desflurane prior to the End of General Anesthesia on Patient Emergence and Recovery: A Randomized Controlled Trial

While sevoflurane and desflurane have been regarded as inhalation agents providing rapid induction and emergence, previous studies demonstrated the superiority of desflurane‐anesthesia compared to sevoflurane‐anesthesia in the postoperative recovery in obese and geriatric patients. We investigated whether a short‐term switch of sevoflurane to desflurane at the end of sevoflurane‐anesthesia enhances patient postoperative recovery profile in non‐obese patients. We randomly divide patients undergoing elective surgery (n = 60) into two groups: sevoflurane‐anesthesia group (Group‐S, n = 30) and sevoflurane‐desflurane group (Group‐SD, n = 30). In Group‐S, patients received only sevoflurane‐anesthesia until the end of surgery (for >2 hours). In Group‐SD, sevoflurane was stopped and switched to desflurane‐anesthesia before the completion of sevoflurane‐anesthesia (for approximately 30 minutes). We assessed the intergroup differences in the times to get eye‐opening, extubation, and a bispectral index of 80 (BIS‐80). Group‐SD showed significantly shorter times to get eye‐opening (438 ± 101 vs. 295 ± 45 s; mean difference, 143 s; 95% confidence interval [CI], 101–183; p < 0.001), extubation (476 ± 108 vs. 312 ± 42 s; mean difference, 164 s; 95% CI, 116–220; p < 0.001), and BIS‐80 (378 ± 124 vs. 265 ± 49 minutes; mean difference, 113 s; 95% CI, 58–168 p < 0.001) compared to Group‐S. There was no between‐group difference in postoperative nausea, vomiting, and hypoxia incidences. Our results suggested that the short‐term (approximately 30 minutes) switch of sevoflurane to desflurane at the end of sevoflurane‐anesthesia can facilitate the speed of postoperative patient recovery.