title: A comparative study of the sedative effect of oral midazolam and oral promethazine medication in lumbar puncture.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Lumbar puncture (LP) essentially is a painful and stressful procedure, however indicated for diagnosis and therapeutic purposes. One way to reduce the anxiety is to administer an oral premedication. The aim of this study is to compare clinical effects of oral midazolam and oral promethazine in LP.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective randomized controlled clinical trial study was performed on 80 children aged 2-7 years that were candidate for LP. They were divided into two randomized equal groups. First group received oral midazolam syrup 0.5 mg/kg and the other group received oral promethazine syrup 1mg/kg. Level of sedation, hemodynamic changes and any other complications were monitored every 5 minutes from 30 minutes before the start of the procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Midazolam group and promethazine group were similar in age, gender and weight. Midazolam had significantly shorter onset of sedation and also shorter duration to maximal sedation. The two groups were similar with respect to sedative effect at all time. The only complication that was significantly more in midazolam group was nausea and vomiting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Midazolam syrup and promethazine syrup have same sedative effect in children. Both of these medications are easy to use in preschool children and none of them appeared to be superior to another.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Department, Mofid Children Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Hojjat
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Derakhshanfar
authors.affiliation: General Physician, Education Development Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Mazandaran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Modanlookordi
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor of Pediatric Emergency, Pediatric Department, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Afshin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amini
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor of Pediatric Emergency, Pediatric Department, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shahrami
keywords: Anxiety; LP; Premedication