ONDANSETRON VERSUS LIDOCAINE 2% FOR THE PREVENTION OF PROPOFOL INJECTION INDUCED PAIN.

Background: The use of Propofol often results in pain upon injection, which is sometimes very distressing for patients. Injection-induced pain during induction of anesthesia can result in patient's discomfort and this study aimed to alleviate this pain and compare between lidocaine and ondansetron as a pretreatment drug. Objectives: This study was performed to evaluate the comparison on pain severity in patients undergoing propofol injection. Patients and Methods: In this double-blind randomized clinical trial, 90 patients with ASA class I and II undergoing anesthesia with propofol injection were selected for the study from 2015 to 2016 in Qassim National Hospital. Patients were randomly assigned to three groups received either 40 mg lidocaine or ondansetron 4 mg and placebo group. The severity of injection pain was assessed using a four-point scale. Results: The pain severity in ondansetron group was significantly lower compared with the lidocaine 2% group (p<0.01). Conclusions: Ondansetron is an effective preinduction drug for pain reduction in patients under propofol injection. Hence, its use for reduction of Propofol injection-induced pain is recommended and more effective than lidocaine.