Does fentanyl or remifentanil provide better postoperative recovery after laparoscopic surgery? a randomized controlled trial

Ayako Asakura, Takahiro Mihara, Takahisa Goto

Fentanyl and remifentanil are widely used opioids in surgery, but it has not been evaluated whether the choice of opioids during surgery affects the patients' postoperative quality of recovery. Accordingly, we aim to compare postoperative recovery of fentanyl-based anesthesia with remifentanil-based anesthesia after laparoscopic surgery using the QoR 40 questionnaire (QoR-40). The study was prospective, randomized, patient and investigator-blinded, controlled, clinical trial. Seventy patients undergoing laparoscopic or retroperitoneoscopic renal or ureteral surgery were recruited and randomized to either fentanyl or remifentanil based anesthesia groups. The primary outcome was the global QoR-40 at 24 h after surgery. The global median (interquartile range) QoR-40 score was 160 (138-177) in the fentanyl group (n = 32) and 140 (127-166) in the remifentanil group (n = 31). Physical comfort and physical independence, the two out of the five dimensions of the QoR-40, demonstrated significantly high scores in the fentanyl group (P = 0.047 and P = 0.032, respectively). Although the global QoR is higher in the fentanyl group by 20 points compared with remifentanil group, no significant differences revealed between the groups. Further studies with large numbers of subjects of the same gender are needed. University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN),  UMIN000010464 . Registered 10 April 2013.