Faster recovery from a multidrug anesthetic does not identify which component was counteracted.
A ninety-two-patient study compared aminophylline with saline at emergence. Patients had received midazolam and morphine premedication followed by propofol and remifentanil. Eye opening, command response and extubation occurred sooner with aminophylline.
The study did not isolate benzodiazepine sedation, test overdose treatment or demonstrate receptor-specific antagonism. Hemodynamic changes also accompanied the intervention.
When explaining delayed recovery, reconstruct the full anesthetic and distinguish clinical awakening from reversal of a specific drug. The result cannot justify assuming that midazolam was solely responsible for delayed emergence or that a favorable awakening measure established restoration of every cognitive function.
Source: PMC4320729, supplied full-text paper. Findings are paraphrased; case-review implications are an interpretation.
Related: Forensic Toxicology: expert analysis and case review.