Prevention of injection pain due to propofol by dezocine: A comparison with lidocaine

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of dezocine (DEZ) versus placebo control (CON) and 2% lidocaine (LID) in prevention of injection pain due to DEZ. Materials and Methods: A prospective randomized double-blind, placebo-CON study was conducted in 75 adults, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status I or II, scheduled to undergo an elective surgery. A total of 25 patients were randomly assigned to one of the three groups, thus CON, group LID and group DEZ. The groups received either 2 ml of normal saline or 2 ml 2% LID or 2 mg/2 ml DEZ, respectively, as pre-treatment. Propofol was injected 1 min later. A blinded researcher assessed the patient's pain level using a four point verbal rating scale. Results: Less patients experienced pain due to propofol injection in the LID (40%) and DEZ (28%) groups compared with the CON (84%) group (P < 0.05). Six patients (24%) in the CON group reported severe pain during propofol injection but none in the other two groups. Conclusion: Pre-treatment with DEZ decreases propofol injection pain as effectively as LID.