Cisatracurium pretreatment with tourniquet reduces propofol injection pain: a double-blind randomized controlled...

To investigate the efficacy of pretreatment with cisatracurium for prevention of pain associated with propofol injection, and compare its efficacy with that of lidocaine.

Patients undergoing general anaesthesia were randomized to receive normal saline (control group), lidocaine (0.5 mg/kg), 0.03 mg/kg cisatracurium or 0.15 mg/kg cisatracurium. All drugs were administered into the largest dorsal vein of the hand with venous occlusion for 30 s, followed by propofol (0.5 mg/kg). Pain was evaluated using a four-point scale.

The incidence and severity of pain was significantly lower in the lidocaine and 0.15 mg/kg cisatracurium groups than the control and 0.03 mg/kg cisatracurium groups (n = 50/group). There was no significant difference between the lidocaine and 0.15 mg/kg cisatracurium groups in the incidence and severity of pain.

0.15 mg/kg cisatracurium effectively decreases the incidence and severity of pain induced by propofol injection without any significant complications.