Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Mar;62(3):214-218.
doi: 10.4103/ija.IJA_506_17.

A prospective observational study of injection pain in children with medium plus long chain triglyceride and long chain triglyceride propofol premixed with lignocaine

Bhavika Singla  1 , Anila D Malde  1
Affiliations

A prospective observational study of injection pain in children with medium plus long chain triglyceride and long chain triglyceride propofol premixed with lignocaine

Bhavika Singla et al. Indian J Anaesth. 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Background and aims: Propofol injection pain is an unresolved problem in children. Although medium and long chain triglyceride (MCT-LCT) propofol has shown promising results in adults, its efficacy in children is not proven. In a prospective observational study the incidence and severity of pain with MCT-LCT and LCT propofol in children was compared.

Methods: After obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, 170 children (age group 6 months to 8 years) scheduled for various surgeries were included in this study. Following standard pre-medication, propofol 1% either LCT or MCT-LCT in a dose of 2-4 mg/kg along with preservative-free lignocaine (2% lignocaine 1 mg in propofol 10 mg) was administered. The primary objective was to study injection pain on scale of 0-6. For children ≤2 years doubling of motor event score (0-3) and for children >2 years, addition of motor (0-3) and verbalisation scores (0-3) were considered. Mann-Whitney U test was used for statistical analysis.

Results: MCT-LCT group had lower incidence of pain (17 patients (20%) versus 35 patients (35.3%), P = 0.026) and severe pain (zero patients (0%) versus six patients (7.1%), P = 0.029) as compared to LCT group. MCT-LCT group had significantly lower mean rank of motor (79.65 versus 91.35), verbal (77.29 versus 90.79) and total score (77.76 versus 93.24) as compared to LCT group (P = 0.037, 0.002, and 0.009, respectively).

Conclusion: MCT-LCT propofol is associated with significantly lower injection pain as compared to LCT propofol in children, when both are combined with lignocaine.

Keywords: Children; injection; lignocaine; pain; propofol; triglyceride.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Patient Flow Diagram
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ohmizo H, Obara S, Iwama H. Mechanism of injection pain with long and long-medium chain triglyceride emulsive propofol. Can J Anaesth. 2005;52:595–9. - PubMed
    1. Larsen R, Beerhalter U, Erdkönig R, Larsen B. Injection pain from propofol-MCT-LCT in children. A comparison with propofol-LCT. Anaesthesist. 2001;50:676–8. - PubMed
    1. Varghese E, Krishna HM, Nittala A. Does the newer preparation of propofol, an emulsion of medium/long chain triglycerides cause less injection pain in children when premixed with lignocaine? Paediatr Anaesth. 2010;20:338–42. - PubMed
    1. Beyaz SG, Eman A. Injection pain of propofol in children: A comparison of two formulations without added lidocaine. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol. 2012;28:314–7. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nyman Y, von Hofsten K, Georgiadi A, Eksborg S, Lönnqvist PA. Propofol injection pain in children: A prospective randomized double-blind trial of a new propofol formulation versus propofol with added lidocaine. Br J Anaesth. 2005;95:222–5. - PubMed