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The objective of the present study was to comparatively investigate the feasibility and safety of etomidate and propofol use following sevoflurane inhalation in autistic children during the intrathecal transplantation of stem cells. The patients selected were 60 autistic children with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I, who were aged between two and 12 years and scheduled for stem cell transplantation. The children received an inhalation induction of 8% sevoflurane, followed by intravenous injection of etomidate (0.2 mg/kg) in group E and propofol (2 mg/kg) in group P (n=30/group). Supplemental doses of 0.1 mg/kg etomidate or 1 mg/kg propofol were used until a deep sedation was obtained. The heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, Ramsay sedation score (RSS) and recovery time were monitored continuously. Following anesthesia, blood pressure and HR measurements were significantly decreased in group P compared with the baseline (P<0.01) and group E values at the same time-points (P<0.05). The occurrence of adverse effects, such as respiratory depression, bradycardia, hypotension and pain on injection, was significantly higher in group P than that in group E, whereas the incidence of myoclonus in group E was significantly higher than that in group P (P<0.01). No significant differences in anesthesia induction, surgery duration, recovery time, RSS and physician satisfaction were observed between the two groups. In conclusion, sevoflurane-etomidate combinations resulted in more stable hemodynamic responses and relatively fewer adverse effects compared with propofol injection following sevoflurane inhalation and may therefore be more suitable for the induction of short-term anesthesia in autistic children during stem cell transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]