In an open, randomized, parallel group study of 84 adult patients undergoing elective day-case urological surgery the specific benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil was shown to reverse effectively subjective postoperative sedation due to midazolam and enabled 83% of patients to recover and be ready for potential discharge within 15 min of surgery (control group 24% p<0.001). The significantly shorter recovery time has benefits in terms of increased patient cooperation and reduced demands on postoperative nursing care. The implications of these findings for day-case surgery are discussed.
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