A Phase 4 interventional study of Remimazolam and Propofol in Intravenous Anesthesia and Cholelithiasis, sponsored by Universidade Federal de Sergipe. Recruiting at 1 site in Brazil. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 59 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-20.
Sponsored by Universidade Federal de Sergipe · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment
The goal of this clinical trial is to compare two medicines used to induce general anesthesia in adults undergoing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The study aims to determine whether remimazolam leads to a different time to loss of consciousness than propofol.
The main question it aims to answer is: Does remimazolam change the time to loss of consciousness compared with propofol during anesthesia induction?
Researchers will compare remimazolam with propofol to evaluate the time required for participants to lose consciousness. The study will also compare blood pressure, heart rate, and other safety outcomes during anesthesia induction.
Participants will:
General anesthesia can be induced with several intravenous hypnotic agents. Propofol remains a standard choice due to its rapid onset and predictable clinical effect; however, it is frequently associated with dose-dependent cardiovascular depression. Remimazolam, an ultra-short-acting benzodiazepine, represents an alternative with a distinct metabolic pathway via tissue esterases, potentially offering greater hemodynamic stability. Nonetheless, current literature comparing induction kinetics between these two pharmacological strategies exhibits high heterogeneity, often driven by variations in drug delivery methods and mixed surgical profiles.
To improve the internal validity of these clinical comparisons, this protocol restricts the evaluation to a single, specific surgical model. Narrowing the clinical environment to a uniform surgical procedure eliminates major confounding variables-such as widely divergent operational durations, patient positioning dynamics, unexpected blood loss, and varying baseline nociceptive stimuli-which typically complicate broader, multi-procedural anesthesia trials.
Furthermore, because the physical characteristics of the study medications preclude complete investigator masking during drug administration, specific operational safeguards are built into the clinical workflow. Anesthesia delivery during the induction phase relies entirely on pre-specified, automated delivery algorithms (comparing a fixed-rate continuous infusion against a pharmacokinetic target-controlled model) rather than subjective, clinician-guided titration. Utilizing fixed algorithmic delivery protocols prevents clinical preferences from influencing drug administration, thereby controlling for potential execution bias.
Following the induction phase, physiological tracking and depth-of-anesthesia monitoring are managed through objective, automated indices to ensure that post-induction adjustments remain standardized across both evaluation groups. This structured approach ensures that the resulting clinical observations reflect the distinct pharmacological and pharmacokinetic profiles of the selected hypnotic strategies rather than confounding clinical management choices.
189 studies on the registry are indexed under Cholelithiasis; 42 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 66 is below the median of 90 across 135 interventional studies indexed under Cholelithiasis.
Browse Cholelithiasis studies →Universidade Federal de Sergipe is the lead sponsor of 11 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.
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The criteria were revised on the registry on Oct 20, 2026. See what changed
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
ASA physical status
The anaesthetists’ scale of health before surgery: I is healthy, II has a mild illness that is under control, III a severe one, IV a severe illness that is a constant threat to life. V and VI are used for the critically ill and for organ donors.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hypersensitivity
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Patients will receive intravenous remimazolam for both the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. Anesthesia induction will be initiated via continuous intravenous infusion at a fixed rate of 6 mg/kg/h until loss of consciousness is achieved. Following induction, anesthesia maintenance will be transitioned to a continuous intravenous infusion of remimazolam at a baseline rate of 1 mg/kg/h, which will be titrated dynamically to maintain objective depth-of-anesthesia monitoring using a bispectral index (BIS) target value between 40 and 60 until the end of the surgical procedure.
Drug: Remimazolam
Patients will receive intravenous propofol for both the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia. Anesthesia induction will be performed using a target-controlled infusion (TCI) model with a fixed target concentration of 4 mcg/mL until loss of consciousness is achieved. Following induction, anesthesia maintenance will be continued via propofol infusion, titrated dynamically to maintain objective depth-of-anesthesia monitoring using a bispectral index (BIS) target value between 40 and 60 until the end of the surgical procedure.
Drug: Propofol
Lyophilized powder reconstituted for intravenous injection. Administered via an electronic infusion pump at a fixed continuous induction rate of 6 mg/kg/h until clinical benchmarks are achieved. Maintenance is sustained at a baseline continuous infusion rate of 1 mg/kg/h. To ensure a strictly standardized anesthetic baseline, all patients receive a uniform, weight-based co-administration of intravenous fentanyl and a neuromuscular blocking agent at induction, followed by a continuous intraoperative analgesic infusion of remifentanil via target-controlled infusion (TCI) guided by the Minto model (effect-site targeting). Maintenance remimazolam doses are precisely titrated based on real-time bispectral index (BIS) values to target a depth of anesthesia between 40 and 60.
Intravenous 1% lipid emulsion formulation of propofol. Administered via an automated target-controlled infusion (TCI) system programmed with the Marsh pharmacokinetic model. Induction is initiated at a fixed effect-site target concentration of 4 mcg/mL. To ensure a strictly standardized anesthetic baseline, all patients receive a uniform, weight-based co-administration of intravenous fentanyl and a neuromuscular blocking agent at induction, followed by a continuous intraoperative analgesic infusion of remifentanil via target-controlled infusion (TCI) guided by the Minto model (effect-site targeting). Maintenance propofol infusion rates are dynamically adjusted to maintain an objective bispectral index (BIS) within the 40-60 range.
Time to Loss of Consciousness (TLOC)
The duration, measured in seconds, from the exact initiation of the intravenous hypnotic agent infusion (either remimazolam or propofol) until the participant achieves clinical loss of consciousness. Loss of consciousness is strictly defined as the co-occurrence of two clinical criteria: the complete loss of response to a standardized verbal command (calling the patient's name aloud) and the absence of the eyelash/palpebral reflex (córneo-palpebral reflex), assessed continuously during the anesthesia induction phase.
Time frame: From the initiation of the hypnotic agent infusion until the achievement of loss of consciousness (estimated time frame of up to 5 minutes during the anesthesia induction phase).
Incidence of Anesthesia-Induced Hypotension
Percentage of participants experiencing at least one episode of hypotension. Hypotension is operationally defined as a decrease in blood pressure of more than 20% from the participant's documented baseline value, or a mean arterial pressure (MAP) lower than 65 mmHg.
Time frame: From the exact initiation of anesthetic induction until the completion of the surgical procedure (estimated up to 2 hours).
Incidence of Perioperative Adverse Events
Proportion of participants experiencing specific anesthesia-related adverse events, including bradycardia (heart rate \< 50bpm), episodes of apnea within the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), or any clinical event requiring unplanned therapeutic interventions.
Time frame: From the initiation of anesthetic induction until 1 hour after arrival at the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
Incidence of Early Postoperative Delirium
Percentage of participants with delirium at discharge from the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), assessed using the 4AT (4 A's Test), a validated rapid screening tool for delirium.
Time frame: Within 1 hour after arrival at the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU).
Bispectral Index (BIS) Values at Key Anesthetic Milestones
Objective tracking of depth of anesthesia using bispectral index (BIS) values (measured on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 indicates fully awake and 0 indicates flat-line EEG). Continuous values will be extracted and compared at specific clinical time points: at the initiation of induction, during laryngoscopy, and periodically throughout the intraoperative period.
Time frame: From initiation of anesthetic induction through the intraoperative period (estimated up to 2 hours).
Time to Tracheal Extubation
The duration, measured in minutes, from the exact clinical cessation of the maintenance hypnotic delivery (propofol or remimazolam) and the remifentanil infusion until the safe and successful removal of the endotracheal tube.
Time frame: From the cessation of anesthetic maintenance until tracheal extubation (estimated up to 20 minutes).
Incidence of Postoperative Pain Requiring Opioid Rescue
Percentage of participants experiencing acute postoperative pain that necessitates the administration of supplemental opioid rescue analgesia as part of their recovery management.
Time frame: Within 1 hour after arrival at the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU).
Incidence of Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV)
Percentage of participants experiencing episodes of nausea, vomiting, or retching during the immediate recovery phase.
Time frame: Within 1 hour after arrival at the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU).
Plan to share: Yes — Individual participant data (IPD) underlying the published results will be shared upon reasonable request after publication of the main findings. All shared data will be fully de-identified to protect participant privacy. Access will be granted to qualified researchers whose proposed use is methodologically sound and ethically appropriate. Data will be provided through a controlled process and only for research purposes aligned with the objectives of the study.
Supporting information: Study protocol, Statistical analysis plan
Time frame: IPD and supporting documents will be available beginning 12 months after publication of the primary results and will remain available for at least 5 years thereafter.
Access criteria: Access to de-identified IPD and supporting documents will be granted upon reasonable request to qualified researchers. Requests must include a methodologically sound proposal and a commitment to use the data only for research purposes aligned with ethical and scientific standards. Data will be shared through a controlled process after approval by the study team.
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Started Aug 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Aug 2027, 12 months after the start.
Since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026, the dates moved once, on Oct 20, 2026: primary completion Jun 2027 → Aug 2027 and completion Jun 2027 → Aug 2027.
Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Studies of the drug tested here: Remimazolam
Universidade Federal de Sergipe