title: Clinical factors affecting the pain on injection of propofol.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pain on propofol injection is a well-known adverse effect. We evaluated the clinical factors that affect the pain on injection of propofol to develop a strategy to prevent or reduce pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a prospective, observational study of 207 adult patients (ASA I-II), and the patients were classified according to gender, age, the body mass index (BMI), the IV site and the side of the IV site. During the 10 seconds after propofol injection, pain intensity was measured on an 11-point numerical rating scale (0 = no pain and 10 = worst possible pain). Pain in excess of 3 on the numerical scale was regarded as moderate to severe pain.
  
  
  RESULTS
  THE SUBGROUPS OF GENDER (FEMALE: 55.6% vs. male: 25.0%; P < 0.01) and the IV site (dorsum of hand: 61.2% vs. wrist: 40.0% vs. antecubital fossa: 22.5%; P < 0.01) had significantly different frequencies for the incidence of pain on injection on the univariate and multivariate analyses. For the subgroup of females, the incidence of pain was statistically different according to the age group (20-40 yr: 71.0% vs. 41-60: 54.8% vs. 61-80: 38.5%; P = 0.014).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that the younger age patients, the patients with a peripheral IV site and female patients are more sensitive to pain on the injection of propofol.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye-Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Mi-Young
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Byoung-Moon
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Min-Seok
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Koo
authors.forename: Young-Jae
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Myoung-Ae
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lee