Seventy-seven ASA 1 patients scheduled for ear surgery were premedicated orally, 90 min before anaesthesia. They were randomly assigned to two groups, according to the drug used: hydroxyzine alone (group T, n = 39) or combined with clonidine (4.9 +/- 0.3 micrograms.kg-1) (group C, n = 38). Anaesthesia was induced with midazolam (0.3 mg.kg-1) and alfentanil (30 micrograms.kg-1). Ventilation was controlled with a 50/50 v/v mixture of oxygen and nitrous oxide (FETCO2 = 4 to 4.5%), and anaesthesia was maintained with repeated injections of alfentanil (15 micrograms.kg-1 at the start of surgery, and then every 15 min) and with isoflurane (mean end-expiratory concentration 0.6 +/- 0.3 vol %). Surgical bleeding was assessed every ten minutes on a numerical scale with four values. A bloodless surgical field was obtained by adjusting the isoflurane concentration up to 2 MAC, and by using a trinitrine infusion as required. Cardiovascular monitoring included an electrocardioscope and automatic blood pressure measurements. Before induction of anaesthesia, the blood pressure was lower in group C (84.7 +/- 11.2 vs. 95.9 +/- 106 mmHg) (p less than 0.001); the difference in heart rate was not significant (65 +/- 15 vs. 70.6 +/- 14 b.min-1). Moderate stable intraoperative hypotension was obtained in both groups. However, mean arterial blood pressure (C:65.8 +/- 7.8 mmHg; T: 73 +/- 9.4 mmHg) and heart rate (C: 53.4 +/- 6.8 b.min-1; T: 60.4 +/- 8 b.min-1) were significantly lower in the patients premedicated with clonidine (p less than 0.001). There were more periods of sinus bradycardia (heart rate less than or equal to 50 b.min-1), mostly seen before the beginning of surgery, in group C patients (p less than 0.01); atropine was also required more often (when the heart rate was less than or equal to 40 b.min-1) in this group of patients (NS). The comparative assessment of surgical field quality was in favour of group C (no troublesome bleeding) as opposed to the control group (16% troublesome bleeding); there were also more bloodless surgical fields in the former group (73.7% vs. 48.7% in group T, p less than 0.05). This study therefore demonstrated that clonidine premedication before anaesthesia with isoflurane was helpful in decreasing bleeding during ear surgery.