This study involved a total of 1062 patients who were randomised to receive lorazepam 2.5mg, placebo, or no medication prior to surgery under general anaesthesia. The primary outcome was perioperative patient experience assessed 24 hours after surgery with a validated questionnaire (Evaluation du Vécu de l'Anesthésie Generale; EVAN-G) describing 6 domains of satisfaction and a global index (score range, 0-100; high scores represent high satisfaction); secondary outcomes included time to extubation and early cognitive recovery.
Premedication with lorazepam did not improve the EVAN-G mean global index for overall level of patient satisfaction (72 [95% CI, 70-73]; n = 330) compared with no premedication (73 [71-74]; n = 319) or placebo (71 [70-73]; n = 322) (P = 0.38). Additionally, the time to extubation was 17 minutes (14-20 minutes) in the lorazepam group, 12 minutes (11-13 minutes) for the no premedication group, and 13 minutes (12-14 minutes) for the placebo group (P < 0.001) and the rate of early cognitive recovery was 51% (45%-56%), 71% (66%-76%), and 64% (59%-69%), respectively (P < 0.001).