Ondansetron reducing pain on injection of etomidate: a controlled randomized study

Area of Science:

• Anesthesiology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Intravenous etomidate administration is associated with injection pain.
• Managing injection pain is crucial for patient comfort during anesthesia induction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of ondansetron in mitigating etomidate injection pain.
• To compare pain scores between ondansetron pretreatment and placebo.

Main Methods:

• A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving 20 patients.
• Patients received either intravenous ondansetron or saline before etomidate injection.
• Pain was assessed using a verbal analog scale (VAS).

Main Results:

• The mean VAS pain score for etomidate injection after ondansetron pretreatment was 1.5 ± 1.2.
• The mean VAS pain score after placebo pretreatment was 3.2 ± 2.8.
• Ondansetron significantly reduced etomidate injection pain (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Intravenous ondansetron pretreatment is an effective method to reduce etomidate injection pain.
• This finding supports the use of ondansetron for improving patient experience during etomidate administration.