Influence of desflurane on postoperative oral intake compared with propofol

Postoperative oral intake is an important predictor of early postoperative recovery, and anesthesia is known to influence this intake. We compared the influences of desflurane anesthesia and propofol anesthesia on early postoperative oral intake retrospectively. The subjects included a consecutive series of patients who received general anesthesia with propofol or desflurane between June and December 2013. The total amount of calories and proteins taken orally and the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) on postoperative days (POD) 0, 1, and 2 were collected. A total of 147 patients were analyzed. The desflurane (Des) and the propofol (Pro) groups included 52 and 95 patients, respectively. The incidence of PONV on POD 0, 1, and 2 did not show significant intergroup differences. Total calorie intake on POD 1 and 2 was not significantly different between the 2 groups (1117±508 vs. 1036±549 kcal/day, p=0.39 and 1504±368 vs. 1437±433 kcal/day, p=0.35, respectively). Total amount of protein via oral intake on POD 1 and 2 were not significantly different between the two groups (45.9±21.1 vs. 43.8±22.8 g/day, p=0.60 and 61.3±15.0 vs. 58.9±18.0 g/day, p=0.42, respectively). These findings suggest that desflurane and propofol affect postoperative oral intake in a similar fashion. These results should be confirmed in a future prospective study.