To compare the anesthetic effect of dezocine combined with remifentanil with midazolam combined with remifentanil for patients with liver cancer treated by radiofrequency ablation.

Forty-eight cases with liver cancer who received a percutaneous transhepatic radiofrequency ablation from January 2013 to June 2016 were randomly divided into 2 groups (24 cases in each group): dezocine group (GroupⅠ) and midazolam group (GroupⅡ). The patients in GroupⅠ were intravenously injected with dezocine at a load capacity of 0.8 mg/kg; GroupⅡwere intravenously injected with midazolam at a load capacity of 0.05-0.l mg/kg. In 5 minutes since the load capacity injection, the patients were intravenously injected with remifentanil at a load capacity of 0.2 μg/kg, then remifentanil was intravenously pumped at 0.05 μg/(kg·min) and the operation was started. The administration speed of remifentanil was adjusted according to hemodynamics during the operation. The mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and perioperative adverse reaction before inducement, after inducement, during thermal therapy, withdrawal of needle and revival had been recorded.

The differences of MAP (t=-1.929, 0.315, 1.380, 1.604, 0.463, P=0.061, 0.754, 0.176, 0.117, 0.063) and HR (t=-0.287, -0.280, -1.442, -0.766, 0.683, P=0.775, 0.781, 0.158, 0.448, 0.489) between both groups were not statistically significant. Compared with Group Ⅱ, Group Ⅰ had a lowered occurrence rate of respiratory depression (χ²=6.857, P=0.022), and the difference in pain scoring upon revival and pain scoring 1 hour after operation was statistically significant (t=2.534, 4.376, P=0.020, 0.000).

Dezocine combined with remifentanil has better anesthetic effect than midazolam combined with remifentanil does when applied to patients undergoing liver cancer radiofrequency ablation.