Effect of normal saline dilution on prevention of rocuronium injection pain

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Intravenous injection of rocuronium produces intense discomfort at the site of injection in 50?80% of conscious patients.Many trials have sought to lessen the injection pain.The present study evaluated the incidence and severity of pain associated with intravenous injection of rocuronium in conscious patients, and determined the efficacy of different doses of 50 mg rocuronium diluted in 0.9% NaCl at minimizing injection pain. METHODS:Sixty healthy patients scheduled for general anesthesia were randomly divided into three groups (n = 20 each) for injection of 10 ml (NS 10), 20 ml (NS 20), or 40 ml (NS 40) of the NaCl-diluted rocuronium. Before induction, the incidence of pain was ascertained and its severity during subsequent rocuronium injection was classified as none, mild, moderate, severe, very severe. RESULTS:The incidence and the severity of pain were significantly lower in the NS 40 group than in the NS 10 group (P< 0.05). Pain severity was mild or absent for all NS 20 and NS 40 patients. CONCLUSIONS:Rocuronium diluted with NaCl effectively reduces injection pain in a dose dependent manner. s