Comparison of Incidence of Respiratory Depression Between Ciprofol versus Propofol for Procedural Sedation During First-Trimester Surgical Abortion: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Respiratory depression remains a major safety concern during propofol-based sedation for surgical abortion. Ciprofol is a novel intravenous sedative-hypnotic agent with pharmacological properties similar to propofol and a potentially improved safety profile. This randomized controlled trial aimed to compare the incidence of respiratory depression of ciprofol versus propofol, both combined with alfentanil, for procedural sedation in patients undergoing surgical abortion. Methods: In this single-center, assessor-blinded, randomized controlled trial, 234 patients scheduled for surgical abortion under intravenous anesthesia were assessed for eligibility, and 226 were randomly assigned to receive either ciprofol (0.4 mg/kg; n=113) or propofol (2.0 mg/kg; n=113). Alfentanil (7.5 μg/kg) was administered intravenously as part of anesthesia induction in all patients. The primary outcome was the incidence of respiratory depression (SpO Results: Under the same anesthesia depth, respiratory depression occurred less frequently with ciprofol than with propofol (9.7% vs 20.4%, Conclusion: Ciprofol combined with alfentanil was associated with a lower incidence of respiratory depression and perioperative adverse events than propofol, while providing comparable procedural sedation efficacy in patients undergoing surgical abortion.