A randomised controlled trial of propofol vs. thiopentone and desflurane for fatigue after laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Fatigue may delay functional recovery after day surgery and may be more common after propofol anaesthesia. We randomly allocated 123 participants scheduled for ambulatory laparoscopic cholecystectomy to induction and maintenance of general anaesthesia with propofol or thiopentone and desflurane. Postoperative fatigue was unaffected by the allocated anaesthetic. The combined mean (SD) Identity-Consequences Fatigue Scale of 34.3 (15.1) before surgery increased in the first postoperative week: to 60.4 (21.1) on day 1, p < 0.001; to 51.1 (17.2) on day 2, p < 0.001; and to 37.5 (16.3) on day 6, p = 0.028. The mean (SD) fatigue reduced at one postoperative month to 22.4 (12.6), 35% less than the combined pre-operative level, p < 0.001. Rates of nausea, vomiting and rescue antie-mesis during the first week after propofol, compared with thiopentone and desflurane, were: 23/63 vs. 32/60, p = 0.27; 8/63 vs. 9/60, p = 0.71; and 12/63 vs. 28/60, p = 0.001, respectively. There were no differences in postoperative pain. In conclusion, fatigue after scheduled laparoscopic cholecystectomy was unaffected by anaesthesia with propofol vs. thiopentone and desflurane.