title: Pretreatment with remifentanil to prevent withdrawal after rocuronium in children.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Pain Medicine, Ajou University College of Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kwak
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D000701:Analgesics, Opioid; D000732:Androstanols; D003473:Neuromuscular Nondepolarizing Agents; D010880:Piperidines; D000077208:Remifentanil; D000077123:Rocuronium