Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: One of the disturbing complications of propofol is pain on venous injection. Some investigators had reported that corticosteroids effectively induce and prolong the duration of local anesthetics. The aim of this study was to assess and comparing the efficacy of propofol pretreatment with dexamethasone in prevalence and severity of its pain on injection.

Materials and Methods: In a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled prospective study, 90ASA I and II, 20 to 60 years-old patients scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia were enrolled. In all patients, one of the veins of both hands was catheterized with a 20 G catheter. Then randomly, and simultaneously 2 ml dexamethasone (8 mg) was injected to one of them and 2 ml of normal saline was injected to other. After 30 seconds, 2 ml propofol (20 mg) was injected to both hands, at the same time in 30 seconds. Pain intensity was measured using VAS system.

Results: The age mean was 32.87±5.61. Twenty nine patients were male (32.2%). The mean of pain during propofol injection was significantly lower in dexamethasone group than normal saline group (1.61 vs.4.21 respectively, p< 0.05). Also the pain incidence was significantly lower in dexamethasone group compared to normal saline group (20% vs. 57.78% respectively, p> 0.05).

Conclusion: Intravenous administration of 8 mg dexamethasone before propofol IV injection significantly decreases the pain on injection of propofol.