Pretreatment with remifentanil to prevent withdrawal after rocuronium in children.
BACKGROUND
Pain from rocuronium injection is a common side-effect reported to occur in 50-80% of the patients. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of pretreatment with i.v. remifentanil on prevention of withdrawal response during rocuronium injection in paediatric patients.


METHODS
After obtaining parental consents, 70 paediatric patients were randomly allocated into two groups to receive either i.v. remifentanil 1 mug kg(-1) (remifentanil group, n=35) or i.v. saline 5 ml (saline group, n=35). Anaesthesia was induced with thiopental sodium 2.5% (5 mg kg(-1)) and the test drug was injected over 30 s. One minute after the test drug injection, rocuronium 1% (0.6 mg kg(-1)) was injected over 5 s and the response was recorded. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate were recorded on arrival in the operating theatre, before and 1 min after the tracheal intubation.


RESULTS
The overall incidence of withdrawal movements was significantly higher in the saline group (33 patients; 94%) than that in the remifentanil group (8 patients; 23%) (P<0.001). No patient in the remifentanil group showed generalized movement, whereas 51% of patients in the saline group did. Remifentanil prevented significant increase in MAP after intubation.


CONCLUSIONS
This study demonstrated that pretreatment with remifentanil 1 microg kg(-1) provided a safe and simple method for reducing the incidence of rocuronium-associated withdrawal movement with haemodynamic stability in children.
Kim
J Y
JY
Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Ajou University College of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
Kim
J Y
JY
Kim
Y B
YB
Kwak
H J
HJ
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000732:Androstanols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D003473:Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010880:Piperidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D000077208:Remifentanil; D000077123:Rocuronium
D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000732:Androstanols; D003473:Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents; D010880:Piperidines; D000077208:Remifentanil; D000077123:Rocuronium