Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42668967›Full record

Trial reportDrug design, development and therapy2026

Safety and Efficacy of Remimazolam Combined with Esketamine for Anesthesia in Elderly Patients Undergoing ERCP: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Yongbo Yu, Jiyuan Wang, Qianqian Zhang, Xiaoqiong Xia, Xiang Gao, Guanglei Zhang, Renhu Li

Abstract readEquivalence TrialRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Drug design, development and therapy, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Yongbo Yu *Department of Anesthesiology, Lu'an Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Lu'an, Anhui, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0009-0001-8906-0223
Jiyuan Wang *Department of Anesthesiology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Chaohu, Hefei, People's Republic of China.
Qianqian ZhangDepartment of Anesthesiology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Chaohu, Hefei, People's Republic of China.
Xiaoqiong XiaDepartment of Anesthesiology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Chaohu, Hefei, People's Republic of China.
Xiang GaoDepartment of Anesthesiology, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Chaohu, Hefei, People's Republic of China.
Guanglei ZhangDepartment of Anesthesiology, Lu'an Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Lu'an, Anhui, People's Republic of China.
Renhu LiDepartment of Anesthesiology, Lu'an Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Lu'an, Anhui, People's Republic of China.ORCID 0000-0002-3118-9163

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Older adults undergoing ERCP are particularly susceptible to sedation-related respiratory and circulatory adverse events. This trial compared the safety and efficacy of remimazolam-esketamine with propofol-fentanyl, with identical standardized nasopharyngeal airway-assisted respiratory management in both groups. Patients and Methods: This single-center, prospective, randomized, parallel-group superiority trial enrolled 160 patients aged 60-80 years with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I-III who were scheduled for elective ERCP. Participants were randomly assigned 1:1 to remimazolam-esketamine (RE group; n=80) or propofol-fentanyl (PF group; n=80). Both groups received identical nasopharyngeal airway placement, oxygen delivery, capnography, and rescue algorithms; the randomized intervention was the anesthetic drug regimen. The primary outcome was composite sedation-related adverse events (SRAEs), comprising prespecified hypotension, bradycardia, hypoxemia, or respiratory depression from anesthesia induction to endoscope withdrawal. Analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle. Results: Composite SRAEs occurred in 14 of 80 patients (17.5%) in the RE group and 28 of 80 patients (35.0%) in the PF group (RR, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.29-0.88; risk difference, -17.5 percentage points; 95% CI, -30.9 to -4.1; P=0.016). The adjusted RR was 0.49 (95% CI, 0.31-0.78; P=0.003). Anesthetic regimen success was similar between groups (97.5% vs 98.8%). Induction was modestly longer with RE, whereas eye-opening and modified Aldrete recovery time were slightly shorter. Conclusion: In this selected population of older patients undergoing ERCP, the remimazolam-esketamine regimen was associated with fewer composite SRAEs than propofol-fentanyl while achieving a similar anesthetic regimen success rate. Induction was modestly longer. Tachycardia, hypertension, and psychotomimetic symptoms were numerically more frequent with RE, but event counts were small and estimates were imprecise. Multicenter studies are required to confirm generalizability.

Indexed as

Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic RetrogradeHypnotics and SedativesKetamineAgedAged, 80 and overBenzodiazepinesFemaleFentanylGeriatric AnesthesiaHumansMaleMiddle AgedPropofolProspective StudiesBenzodiazepinesEsketamineFentanylHypnotics and SedativesKetaminePropofolremimazolamelderly patientsendoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatographyesketaminenasopharyngeal airwayremimazolamsedation-related adverse events

Identifiers

PMID42668967
PMCPMC13525767

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.