A meta-analysis and systematic review based on perioperative management of elderly patients: is ciprofol an alternative to propofol?

With the rising number of elderly surgical patients, selecting an appropriate anesthetic tailored to their specific needs is essential. Ciprofol, a novel intravenous anesthetic, has garnered attention due to its low injection pain rate and minimal impact on the circulatory system. This meta-analysis aims to examine the efficacy and safety profile of ciprofol during perioperative management of elderly patients.

Comprehensive searches of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and VIP databases from inception to March 23, 2024, were conducted. Eligible studies were included, data extracted, quality assessed using the ROB2 tool, and analyses performed with Stata 17.0.

Analysis of eleven randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comprising 1715 patients demonstrated that ciprofol outperformed propofol regarding injection pain (RR: 0.13, 95% CI: 0.09–0.20, p < 0.001), hypotension (RR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.56–0.94; p = 0.014), bradycardia (RR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.48–0.85, p = 0.002), respiratory depression (RR: 0.29, 95% CI: 0.19–0.43, p < 0.001), hypoxemia (RR: 0.38, 95% CI: 0.26–0.55, p < 0.001), and body movement (RR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.56–0.96, p = 0.022). No significant differences were observed in induction time(SMD: 0.11,95% CI: -0.39-0.61, p = 0.655), sedative success rate(RR:1.01,,:95% CI:0.97–1.06, p = 0.669)), time of leaving the operating room(SMD-0.21,95% CI: -0.83-0.40, p = 0.497), bucking(RR:0.56,:95% CI:0.27–1.17, p = 0.134)), nausea and vomiting(RR:0.69,95% CI:0.43–1.11, p = 0.143)).

Ciprofol demonstrates comparable efficacy to propofol in general anesthesia for elderly patients, with an enhanced safety profile, making it a viable clinical alternative. Further well-designed large RCTs are required to substantiate its safety profile.