Reduction of propofol injection pain with a double lumen i.v. set.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate if the use of a new double lumen i.v. set (DLIS) decreases the incidence of propofol injection pain compared with single lumen i.v. set (SLIS) administration. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blinded study. SETTING: Operating rooms in a university hospital. PATIENTS: 50 adult ASA physical status I and II patients of both genders undergoing general anesthesia for elective surgery. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were injected with propofol either through a DLIS or a SLIS. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Three different pain indices were recorded to be present or absent: (1) verbal report of pain during propofol injection (2) grimacing during propofol injection, and (3) recall of injection pain in the recovery room. When the DLIS was used, the incidence of verbal pain, grimacing during propofol injection, and recall of pain during recovery were lowered significantly by 53%, 46%, and 52%, respectively (chi square analysis of contingency table with Yates correction, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The DLIS significantly reduced the incidence of propofol injection pain compared with SLIS. Further studies are indicated to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of this device.

Sonographic determination of fetal gender.

With the advent of high resolution real-time sonographic scanning machines, fetal gender can be determined in most pregnancies of more than 25 weeks. In 72 of 112 consecutive pregnancies, fetal genitalia were well visualized and there were no errors in prediction of fetal gender. In the 40 failures, the fetal genitalia could not be detected, hence, determination was not volunteered. Follow-up showed that the failure group was equally divided between males and females, emphasizing that lack of visualization did not imply a female perineum. The reasons for failure and success, scanning techniques, and a brief review of fetal genital embryology are discussed. Caution of potential psychological effects on the parents is raised.