Abstract:Objective To explore the clinical effect and safety of remimazolam combined with alfentanil in painless gastroenteroscopy in elderly patients.Methods 188 elderly patients who were scheduled to undergo painless gastroenteroscopy from October 2021 to February 2023 were selected and divided into group A, group B, group C, and group D by random number table method, with 47 cases in each group. The group A, group B and group C were used remimazolam 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 mg/kg, and alfentanil 3 μg/kg respectively, and the remimazolam 2.5 mg/time was added during the operation. The group D was used propofol 1.5 mg/kg and alfentanil 3 μg/kg, and a single dose of propofol 0.5 mg/kg was added during the operation. The hemodynamics at different time points [3 min before anesthesia administration (T0), immediately after endoscopy (T1), 3 min after endoscopy (T2), at the end of examination (T3), at the time of awakening (T4)], anesthesia onset time, sedation success rate, gastrointestinal endoscopy time, awakening time, time to leave the observation room and intraoperative/postoperative complications were compared, and the test results of neurobehavioral cognitive state examination (NCSE) were compared at different times.Results The percutaneous arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) at T1 and T2 time point were higher than group C and group D, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) among group A, group B, group C and group D at each time point (P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in SpO2 between group A and group B at each time point (P > 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the success rate of sedation, gastrointestinal endoscopy examination time and time of leaving the observation room among the four groups (P > 0.05), but the onset time of anesthesia in group A was longer than that in group B, group C and group D, and the awakening time in group A and group B was shorter than that in group C and group D, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in awakening time between group A and group B (P > 0.05). The incidence rate of bradycardia in group A and group B was lower than in group D, and the incidence rates of hypoxemia, respiratory depression, hypotension, and dizziness in group A were lower than those in group D, and the incidence rate of injection pain in group A, group B and group C was lower than that in group D, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). After 10 minutes of complete wakefulness, there was no statistically significant difference in the passing rates of calculation ability and the memory tests between group A and group B (P > 0.05), but the passing rates of calculation ability and memory test in group A were higher than those in group C and group D, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusion During painless gastroenteroscopy in elderly patients, the sedative effect of using 0.3 mg/kg remimazolam combined with alfentanil is good, and it has stable hemodynamics, and the occurrence rate of complications such as bradycardia and espiratory depression is low, and the early postoperative cognitive function is recovered well.