COMPARISON BETWEEN ONDANSETRON AND LIDOCAINE IN REDUCING PROPOFOL INJECTION PAIN AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Abstract

Background: Propofol injection pain is a common issue during anesthesia. Ondansetron and lidocaine have been used to reduce this pain, but evidence on their comparative effectiveness is inconsistent. This study was planned to directly compare ondansetron and lidocaine in adult patients at a tertiary care hospital to clarify their relative efficacy.

Objective: To compare ondansetron and lidocaine in terms of frequency of pain at the time of propofol injection pain at a tertiary care hospital.

Duration: Six months w.e.f. 05-05-2024 to 04-11-2024.

Methodology: This randomized controlled trial at Hameed Latif Hospital, Lahore, included 124 patients undergoing general surgery, divided equally into ondansetron and lidocaine groups. After ethical approval and consent, patients received pretreatment before propofol injection, and pain was assessed using VNRS. Data were analyzed with SPSS, applying Chi-square tests and stratification for effect modifiers, with p≤0.05 considered significant. 

Results: The study included 124 participants (mean age 37.86±11.35 years; 56.5% male) with comparable baseline characteristics between ondansetron and lidocaine groups. Lidocaine significantly reduced propofol injection pain, with lower mean VNRS scores and pain frequency across all age, gender, BMI, and ASA subgroups compared to ondansetron (p<0.05).

Conclusion: Lidocaine was significantly more effective than ondansetron in reducing propofol injection pain. Pain scores and frequencies were consistently lower across all subgroups, including age, gender, BMI, and ASA status. Both groups were comparable at baseline, confirming that lidocaine provides superior analgesic effect for propofol injection in adult patients