The study was parallel, double-blind, and randomized, and was conducted from February 1 to May 30, 2023 at the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University; the study included patients with a BMI of 30.6–51.2 kg/m2 scheduled for laparoscopic bariatric surgery who were randomly assigned to receive propofol or ciprofol during induction and maintenance of anesthesia. Mean cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFVm) was measured by transcranial Doppler ultrasonography, and mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate, and adverse events were recorded during the procedure. Compared to baseline, the propofol group showed a significant decrease in CBFVm at T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T7, and T8 and T9 time points, and also a significant decrease in MAP at T1, T2, T3, T5, and T8 (p < 0.05). The ciprofol group did not show significant changes in CBFVm and MAP decreased in this group only in T1 (p < 0.05). A difference in the change in CBFVm (ΔCBFVm) was observed between the groups, but it was not statistically significant. Pain at the injection site occurred in 13 patients (61.9%) in the propofol group and in 3 patients (13.6%) in the ciprofol group (p = 0.001). Hypotension, respiratory depression and bradycardia were reported by both groups without statistically significant differences between them. The authors concluded that ciprofol compared with propofol more stably maintained CBFVm and hemodynamics, caused less injection pain, and had a comparable safety and adverse event profile to propofol.