Abstract
BACKGROUND: General anesthesia induces endocrine, immunologic, and metabolic responses. Anesthetic drugs affect the endocrine system by changing the level of stress hormones and hemodynamic variables of the patient. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of propofol and dexmedetomidine on hemodynamic parameters and stress-induced hormones in laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) surgery. METHODS: Seventy patients of elective LC were included in this study. The patients were randomly assigned into two equal groups of propofol (75 µg/kg/min) and dexmedetomidine (0.5 µg/kg/hour) as anesthesia maintenance. Hemodynamic parameters (heart rate and mean atrial pressure), blood sugar, and serum epinephrine level were monitored and recorded from pre-anesthesia period to 10 min after entry to post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) according to a planned method. RESULTS: Heart rate and mean atrial pressure changes were significantly lower in dexmedetomidine group in all stages compared to propofol group (P < 0.001). Also, the rises in blood glucose and serum epinephrine levels in the dexmedetomidine group were significantly higher than in the propofol group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Anesthesia maintenance by dexmedetomidine showed a significant difference in hemodynamic parameters in comparison with propofol. While dexmedetomidine had better effects on controlling hemodynamic parameters, propofol showed better effects on decreasing stress hormones, and it can be suggested for LC surgery.