BACKGROUND:Propofol is commonly used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia, but pain at the site of intravenous injection is a clinical problem. We studied the effectiveness of local cooling and pretreatment with lidocaine for prevention of injection pain of propofol. METHODS: A total of 226 adult patients scheduled to receive general anesthesia were assigned randomly to four groups: a control group receiving no prophylactic intervention, a cooling group receiving topical cooling, a lidocaine group receiving 1 mg x kg(-1) lidocaine, and a lidocaine plus cooling group receiving topical cooling and 1 mg x kg(-1) lidocaine. A 20 gauge intravenous catheter was inserted into the peripheral vein at the radial side of the forearm. After prophylactic intervention had been performed, 1-2 mg x kg(-1) MCT/LCT propofol was injected. Patients were asked to grade the pain as none, mild, moderate, or severe. RESULTS: The incidence of propofol-induced pain was significantly higher in the control group (39%) than in the other three groups (17% in the cooling group, 16% in the lidocaine group and 8% in the lidocaine plus cooling group). However, there were no significant differences between the three groups with different prophylactic interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that cooling and pretreatment with lidocaine reduce the incidence of pain upon propofol injection.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND:Propofol is commonly used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia, but pain at the site of intravenous injection is a clinical problem. We studied the effectiveness of local cooling and pretreatment with lidocaine for prevention of injection pain of propofol. METHODS: A total of 226 adult patients scheduled to receive general anesthesia were assigned randomly to four groups: a control group receiving no prophylactic intervention, a cooling group receiving topical cooling, a lidocaine group receiving 1 mg x kg(-1) lidocaine, and a lidocaine plus cooling group receiving topical cooling and 1 mg x kg(-1) lidocaine. A 20 gauge intravenous catheter was inserted into the peripheral vein at the radial side of the forearm. After prophylactic intervention had been performed, 1-2 mg x kg(-1) MCT/LCT propofol was injected. Patients were asked to grade the pain as none, mild, moderate, or severe. RESULTS: The incidence of propofol-induced pain was significantly higher in the control group (39%) than in the other three groups (17% in the cooling group, 16% in the lidocaine group and 8% in the lidocaine plus cooling group). However, there were no significant differences between the three groups with different prophylactic interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that cooling and pretreatment with lidocaine reduce the incidence of pain upon propofol injection.