The duration of surgery and anaesthesia was longer for the thiopental group than the propofol group. In the former group the duration of surgery was 78.9 +/- 41.9 (mean +/-SD) minutes, and the duration of anaesthesia was 118.1 +/- 46.1 minutes. For the propofol group the duration of surgery was 67.1 +/- 42.8 minutes, and for anaesthesia was 104.9 +/- 44.8 minutes. These were significant differences with a P < 0.05. The recovery room stay was also longer for the thiopental group, although this was not statistically significant.
The side-effects of postoperative nausea and vomiting was similar in both groups. The use of intra-operative fentanyl citrate was, however, more common in the propofol group, (P < 0.01).