Objective To investigate the effect of sevoflurane combined with cipepofol on stress response and emergence agitation in preschool children undergoing anesthesia for lower eyelid entropion correction. Methods A total of 102 preschool children who underwent general anesthesia for lower eyelid entropion correction in our hospital from November 2023 to November 2024 were selected as the research subjects, and they were divided into the control group (from November 2023 to April 2024) and the observation group (from May to November 2024) according to the treatment time, with 51 children in each group. The control group was anesthetized with sevoflurane alone, and the observation group was anesthetized with sevoflurane combined with cipepofol. The stress response, emergence agitation, clinical indicators and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results The heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) of the observation group were better than those of the control group (P <0.05). The bispectral index and delirium score of the observation group were better than those of the control group (P <0.05). The postoperative recovery time, extubation time and orientation recovery time of the observation group were shorter than those of the control group (P <0.05). The incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group (1.96%) was lower than that in the control group (13.73%) (P <0.05). Conclusion The application of cipepofol in combination with sevoflurane for general anesthesia in preschool children undergoing lower eyelid entropion correction is rational, innovative, and of practical application value. It can reduce the postoperative stress response of children, shorten the emergence agitation, reduce the incidence of adverse symptoms, and optimize the postoperative recovery effect of children.