Background and Aims: Propofol is considered as an ideal induction agent for General anaesthesia. However no drug or technique could effectively alleviate the pain on its injection. In the present study we compared the efficacy of pre-treatment with Lignocaine and Ondansetron in reducing the incidence and severity of Propofol induced pain and their safety profile.

Materials and Methods: We included 200 patients with American society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) grade I & II between the age group 18 to 65 years undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia. Pain during Propofol injection was compared between Lignocaine 1.5 mg/kg and Ondansetron 0.1mg/kg. Pain was assessed using four point scale (FPS) and numerical rating scale (NRS). The association between categorical variables were done using Chi-square or Fisher’s exact test. Continuous variables following normality were assessed using Student’s t-test and for non-normal variables Mann Whitney U test was used. A p-value <0.05 was considered as significant.

Results: About 80% of patients in either of the groups didn’t have pain on Propofol injection. Both the drugs were found to be equally effective in reducing the incidence of pain, and intensity was found comparable. But the pain due to injection of Ondansetron itself was found to be significant compared to Lignocaine (p-value <0.001) along with rash appearing at the site of injection (p-value 0.003).

Conclusion: Though both the drugs were found equally effective in reducing the incidence of Propofol induced pain, Lignocaine was found to have a better safety profile than Ondoansetron comparing their side effects.

Keywords:  General Anaesthesia; Pain; Propofol; Lignocaine; Ondansetron

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Dr Venugopal A

Additional Professor in Anaesthesiology, Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvanathapuram, Kerala,

India Pin: 695011