Objective To compare the effects of nalbuphine combined with etomidate and nalbuphine combined with propofol in painless colonoscopy for elderly patients with hypertension.

Methods Elderly patients with hypertension who underwent painless colonoscopy in the Department of Anesthesiology of Affiliated Huaian No.1 People’s Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from August 2022 to February 2023 were selected and randomly divided into three groups: nalbuphine combined with etomidate group (E group), nalbuphine combined with propofol group (P group), and the nalbuphine combined with etomidate and propofol group (EP group). The primary endpoint was the incidence of hypotension during anesthesia. Secondary endpoints included mean arterial pressure (MAP), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and heart rate (HR) at five time points: before anesthesia (T₀), before colonoscopy (T₁), 5 minutes after colonoscopy (T₂), at the end of the examination (T₃), upon leaving the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU, T₄). Additionally, examination time, awakening time, Ramsay score, and adverse reactions were compared among the three groups.

Results A total of 180 patients were included in the analysis, with 60 cases in each group. The incidence of hypotension was 11.7%, 55.0%, and 33.3% in the E group, P group, and EP group, respectively. The incidence of hypotension in the E group was lower than that in the P and EP groups (P＜0.05). At T₁, T₂, T₃, and T₄, MAP, SBP, and DBP in the E group were significantly higher than those in the P and EP groups (P＜0.05). There were no statistically significant differences among the three groups in awakening time, Ramsay score, or incidence of adverse reactions.

Conclusions Compared with nalbuphine combined with propofol, nalbuphine combined with etomidate for painless colonoscopy in elderly patients with hypertension resulted in a lower incidence of hypotension, less impact on hemodynamics, and higher safety.