Step 1: Day-care or OPD surgery needs drugs with a very rapid onset and a short, predictable recovery so the patient can be discharged the same day.
Step 2: Alfentanil is an ultra-short-acting opioid with a fast onset and a short duration of action. This rapid offset makes it ideal for brief outpatient analgesia where quick recovery is essential.
Step 3: The other opioids do not fit day-care needs. Morphine and pethidine are longer-acting and cause more prolonged sedation and respiratory depression. Fentanyl, although potent and short, is longer acting than alfentanil and accumulates with repeated dosing.
Step 4: Other useful day-care drugs include propofol, midazolam, mivacurium, sevoflurane, desflurane and isoflurane. Thus the analgesic of choice for OPD surgery is Alfentanil.