Sixty ASA grade 1 unpremedicated patients scheduled for minor elective surgery were randomly allocated to receive general anaesthesia consisting of either propofol-nitrous oxide in oxygen or a conventional technique of thiopentone-isoflurane-nitrous oxide-oxygen. Baseline axillary temperature readings, duration of operation and intra-operative decrease in axillary temperature were similar in both groups. The patients who received propofol-nitrous oxide-oxygen anaesthesia had a significantly lower incidence of postanaesthetic shivering than the control group. A propofol-nitrous oxide-oxygen technique may be preferable when postanaesthetic shivering is deemed undesirable.