Abstract:Objective To compare the anesthetic effects of esketamine combined with alfentanil and remimazolam during bronchoscopy in elderly patients, as well as their influences on cognitive function.Methods 106 elderly patients who were scheduled to undergo bronchoscopy from January 2023 to January 2025 were selected and randomly divided into two groups, with 53 cases in each group. Among them, the esketamine group was given 0.25 mg/kg esketamine + 0.20 mg/kg remimazolam for anesthesia induction, while the alfentanil group was given 10 μg/kg of alfentanil combined with 0.20 mg/kg remimazolam for anesthesia induction. Both groups were given 1 mg/(kg·h) of remimazolam for anesthesia maintenance. After the examination, the anesthetic effects of the two groups of patients were evaluated. The hemodynamic indicators of the two groups of patients were compared immediately before anesthesia induction (T0), immediately after induction (T1), from bronchoscopy to the glottis (T2), from bronchoscopy to the carina (T3), and immediately after the examination (T4). The success rate of one-time laryngeal mask placement, anesthesia induction time, recovery time and examination time of the two groups of patients were compared. Before the operation and 30 minutes after anesthesia recovery, the quality of recovery of patients after anesthesia was evaluated using the 40-item quality of recovery scale (QoR-40) scores. Before the operation and 1 hour after anesthesia recovery, the cognitive function of the patients was evaluated using the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) scores. Compare the occurrence of adverse reactions between the two groups of patients.Results The excellent and good rates of anesthesia in the esketamine group were 96.23%, significantly higher than 84.91% in the alfentanil group, and the difference was statistically significant (P 0.05). The MAP at time points T1, T2, T3 and T4 in the esketamine group were significantly higher than those in the alfentanil group at the same period. The heart rate (HR) at time points T1 and T2 was significantly higher than that in the alfentanil group at the same period. The percutaneous arterial oxygen saturation (SpO2) at time points T1, T2, and T3 was significantly higher than that in the alfentanil group at the same period. The differences were all statistically significant (P 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the success rate of one-time laryngeal mask placement and the examination time between the two groups of patients (P 0.05). The anesthesia induction time and recovery time in the esketamine group were significantly shorter than those in the alfentanil group, and the differences were statistically significant (P 0.05). Thirty minutes after anesthesia alfentanil, there were no statistically significant differences in the scores of each dimension and the total QoR-40 scores in the esketamine group compared with those before the operation (P 0.05). The scores of each dimension (excepting the psychological support dimension) and the total QoR-40 scores in the alfentanil group were lower than those before the operation and significantly lower than those in the esketamine group, the differences were all statistically significant (P 0.05). Excepting for the language score in the MMSE of the esketamine group, the scores of each item and the total MMSE scores of the two groups of patients 1 hour after anesthesia recovery were significantly lower than those before the operation, and the alfentanil group was significantly lower than the esketamine group. The differences were statistically significant (P 0.05). The incidences of hypotension and respiratory depression in the esketamine group were significantly lower than those in the alfentanil group, and the differences were statistically significant (P 0.05).Conclusion Esketamine combined with remimazolam, compared with alfentanil combined with remimazolam, can achieve better anesthetic effects when applied to bronchoscopy in elderly patients, and has a smaller impact on the cognitive function of patients. It is worth applying in clinical practice.