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Low-dose propofol reduces the incidence of moderate to severe local pain induced by the main dose

Liljeroth, E. ; Karlsson, A. ; Lagerkranser, M. and Åkeson, Jonas LU (2007) In Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica 51(4). p.460-463
Abstract
Background Local pain on injection of propofol remains a considerable problem in clinical anaesthesiology. As slow infusion of a low dose of propofol induces little or no pain at the site of injection, and as propofol-induced pain fades during prolonged exposure, this randomized, double-blind, clinical cross-over study was designed to test whether pain on injection of propofol is attenuated by initial slow injection of a low dose of propofol by the same intravenous line. Methods Seventy-seven adult surgical patients were cannulated in a dorsal vein on each hand. In each cannula, a 0.5-ml priming dose of either propofol 10 mg/ml dissolved in an emulsion of medium- and long-chain triglycerides or aqueous sodium chloride 9.0 mg/ml was... (More)
Background Local pain on injection of propofol remains a considerable problem in clinical anaesthesiology. As slow infusion of a low dose of propofol induces little or no pain at the site of injection, and as propofol-induced pain fades during prolonged exposure, this randomized, double-blind, clinical cross-over study was designed to test whether pain on injection of propofol is attenuated by initial slow injection of a low dose of propofol by the same intravenous line. Methods Seventy-seven adult surgical patients were cannulated in a dorsal vein on each hand. In each cannula, a 0.5-ml priming dose of either propofol 10 mg/ml dissolved in an emulsion of medium- and long-chain triglycerides or aqueous sodium chloride 9.0 mg/ml was injected over 30 s, and followed 120 s later by a main dose of 2.0 ml of the same propofol formula over 6 s. After each injection, the patients were asked by a blind investigator to score the maximal pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Results Although the decrease in maximal pain intensity did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.070), significantly fewer patients reported moderate or severe pain intensity (corresponding to 3.0 VAS units or more) after the main dose of propofol was preceded by a priming dose of propofol than by sodium chloride (P = 0.041). Conclusions The incidence of moderate to severe local pain induced by intravenous propofol can be decreased by a readily applicable technique in which a low dose of propofol emulsion is slowly administered by the same intravenous route 2 min in advance. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
visual analogue scale, propofol, pain, intravenous anaesthesia/anaesthetics, dose fractionation, injection
in
Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
volume
51
issue
4
pages
460 - 463
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
external identifiers
  • wos:000244877500012
  • scopus:33947285156
ISSN
0001-5172
DOI
10.1111/j.1399-6576.2006.01255.x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
10d75a05-9641-4d51-8a76-8e2fb66352b3 (old id 670903)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:36:14
date last changed
2022-01-26 07:26:23
@article{10d75a05-9641-4d51-8a76-8e2fb66352b3,
  abstract     = {{Background Local pain on injection of propofol remains a considerable problem in clinical anaesthesiology. As slow infusion of a low dose of propofol induces little or no pain at the site of injection, and as propofol-induced pain fades during prolonged exposure, this randomized, double-blind, clinical cross-over study was designed to test whether pain on injection of propofol is attenuated by initial slow injection of a low dose of propofol by the same intravenous line. Methods Seventy-seven adult surgical patients were cannulated in a dorsal vein on each hand. In each cannula, a 0.5-ml priming dose of either propofol 10 mg/ml dissolved in an emulsion of medium- and long-chain triglycerides or aqueous sodium chloride 9.0 mg/ml was injected over 30 s, and followed 120 s later by a main dose of 2.0 ml of the same propofol formula over 6 s. After each injection, the patients were asked by a blind investigator to score the maximal pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (VAS). Results Although the decrease in maximal pain intensity did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.070), significantly fewer patients reported moderate or severe pain intensity (corresponding to 3.0 VAS units or more) after the main dose of propofol was preceded by a priming dose of propofol than by sodium chloride (P = 0.041). Conclusions The incidence of moderate to severe local pain induced by intravenous propofol can be decreased by a readily applicable technique in which a low dose of propofol emulsion is slowly administered by the same intravenous route 2 min in advance.}},
  author       = {{Liljeroth, E. and Karlsson, A. and Lagerkranser, M. and Åkeson, Jonas}},
  issn         = {{0001-5172}},
  keywords     = {{visual analogue scale; propofol; pain; intravenous anaesthesia/anaesthetics; dose fractionation; injection}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{460--463}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  series       = {{Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica}},
  title        = {{Low-dose propofol reduces the incidence of moderate to severe local pain induced by the main dose}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-6576.2006.01255.x}},
  doi          = {{10.1111/j.1399-6576.2006.01255.x}},
  volume       = {{51}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}