Abstract:Objective To determine the median effective dose (ED50) of nalbuphine in inhibiting responses to laryngeal mask airway insertion in patients undergoing hysteroscopy, and to compare the efficacy and safety of nalbuphine with those of sufentanil in anesthesia induction.Methods A total of 134 patients who underwent hysteroscopy at our hospital from March 2020 to March 2023 were prospectively selected for the study. Patients were randomly assigned into a dose group (n = 45), a nalbuphine group (n = 44), and a sufentanil group (n = 45) using a random number table. Patients in the dose group were given intravenous pumping of propofol with an initial dosage of 0.2 mg/kg for 5 min, followed by laryngeal mask airway insertion. The sequential method was used to study the median effective dose of nalbuphine to inhibit the response to laryngeal mask placement in patients undergoing hysteroscopic surgery. The sequential method was used to study the ED50 of nalbuphine in inhibiting responses to laryngeal mask airway insertion in patients undergoing hysteroscopy. When a patient exhibited a positive response, the dose for the next patient was adjusted to 1.1 times the previous dose. The ED50 of nalbuphine plus propofol in inhibiting responses to laryngeal mask airway insertion was calculated, and the comparison was conducted based on the ED50. Patients in the nalbuphine group received nalbuphine plus propofol for anesthesia induction, while those in the sufentanil group received sufentanil plus propofol for anesthesia induction. The blood pressure, heart rate, and oxygen saturation of patients in the nalbuphine group and the sufentanil group before anesthesia (T0), at the time of disappearance of the eyelash reflex (T1), during the operation (T2), and immediately after the operation (T3). The dose of propofol and the duration of propofol use were compared between the nalbuphine group and the sufentanil group, and the safety of anesthesia and the agitation during recovery from anesthesia in the two groups of patients were analyzed.Results The ED50 of nalbuphine in hysteroscopy was 0.146 (95% CI: 0.126, 0.166), with the ED95 being 0.165 (95% CI: 0.155, 0.218). The patients in the nalbuphine group had shorter postoperative awakening time and recovery time for spontaneous breathing (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the postoperative extubation time between patients in the sufentanil group and those in the nalbuphine group as analyzed by the t-test (P > 0.05). Compared with the sufentanil group, the induction and maintenance doses of propofol were lower (P < 0.05) and the administration time of propofol was shorter in the nalbuphine group (P < 0.05). The overall incidence of adverse reactions was lower in the nalbuphine group than in the sufentanil group (P < 0.05).Conclusions This study establishes the ED50 of nalbuphine in inhibiting responses to laryngeal mask airway insertion in patients undergoing hysteroscopy as 0.146 mg/kg. Both drugs were similar in maintaining the stability of vital signs, but nalbuphine performs better in controlling postoperative pain than sufentanil does. Future researches should further explore the efficacy and safety of nalbuphine in different types of surgery and patient populations.