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Published on: October 16, 2013
Pretreatment with sufentanil reduces myoclonus after etomidate
L Hueter1, K Schwarzkopf, M Simon
1Klinik fuer Anesthesiologie und Intensivtherapie, Friedrich-Schiller-Universitaet Jena, Germany. lars.hueter@med.uni-jena.de
Background:
Myoclonic movements are a common problem during the induction of general anesthesia with etomidate. We investigated the influence of pretreatment with the opioid sufentanil on the incidence of etomidate-induced myoclonus.
Methods:
Forty female patients (ASA physical status I-III) were randomly assigned to receive double-blinded either 0.3 micro g kg-1 of sufentanil or placebo 150 s before the induction of sleep with 0.3 mg kg-1 of etomidate. The patients were observed for any myoclonic movement. Grade of dizziness, breathing frequency, non-invasive blood pressure and heart rate were measured during the study period.
Results:
None of the 20 patients receiving sufentanil had myoclonic movements after the administration of etomidate, whereas 16 patients in the placebo group (80%) experienced such movements (P<0.01). No cases of apnoea before induction of sleep were seen in the sufentanil group.
Conclusion:
Sufentanil 0.3 micro g kg-1 is an effective and safe drug to reduce myoclonus after etomidate without causing any harmful side-effect.
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