Comparison of Dexamethasone, Ketamine and Lignocaine in Preventing Pain with Propofol Injection
Keywords:
Propofol, Dexamethasone, Lignocaine, Ketamine, Pain, Intravenous Injection.Abstract
Introduction: Propofol provides smooth induction and rapid recovery. However, it is associated with high incidence of pain on injection reported to occur in 78-90% patients with severe intensity in 44-56%. In this study we compared the analgesic effect of dexamethasone, ketamine and lignocaine in preventing propofol injection pain.
Method: Ninety patients of ASA physical status I and II requiring general anesthesia were studied in a double blind randomized manner and were allocated into 3 groups with 30 in each. Venous occlusion was done by BP cuff at 70 mmHg. The study drugs Dexamethasone 4mg, Ketamine 6 mg or Lignocaine 20 mg, 1 ml each were administered intravenousl over 10 seconds. The cuff was released after 1 min and 25% of the calculated propofol was given within next 10 sec. Patients were asked regarding the onset and intensity of pain they experienced during propofol injection using a verbal rating scale.
Result: All three drugs, Dexamethasone, Ketamine and Lignocaine reduced the incidence of pain on Propofol injection equally as 56.67% patients in Group D, 60 % in Group K and 66.67% in Group L had no pain (p=0.721). Similarly, the intensity of pain determined by Verbal rating scale also showed the equal reduction of pain with these three study drugs (p=0.66).
Conclusion: Dexamethasone, Ketamine and Lignocaine were equally effective in reducing the incidence and intensity of propofol pain.