What did a jaw-surgery trial actually show about midazolam and surgical recall?
Patients may remember different parts of an operation or recovery. A small randomized jaw-surgery trial included reported recall as one outcome alongside recovery time and postoperative symptoms.
How to read the recall numbers
Fifty-six patients received intravenous midazolam or saline around induction under a standardized propofol and remifentanil regimen. Recall was reported by 3.6% of the midazolam group and 10.7% of controls. That difference was statistically inconclusive. Median recovery time was 60 minutes in each group, which describes a separate endpoint.
What matters when reviewing one patient’s account
A group percentage cannot resolve whether a specific patient was conscious at a particular moment. A case review can place the patient’s description against the induction, maintenance and emergence timeline and examine the medication record and contemporaneous monitoring. This trial’s recall results are useful context for this particular anesthetic regimen. The small number of reports leaves uncertainty about the size of any effect.
Read the original study · Full text
