Counting during anesthetic injection lessens pain

Patients who counted aloud during the injection of an intravenous anesthetic experienced and recalled less pain, according to new research by anesthesiologists in Japan.

Propofol is a common, effective intravenous anesthetic with a high incidence of pain at injection. The study included 46 patients receiving the less painful MCT/LCT propofol formulation (propofol with medium- and large-chain triglycerides) during the anesthetic injection.

The data showed that 19 of 46 patients (41 percent) complained of pain, and 10 of 19 (52 percent) recalled having pain at the injection site after surgery. Of the patients encouraged to count during the procedure, however, none complained of pain, and only one (2.2 percent) remembered having pain at the injection site.

“Old but new methodology that allows patients to count numbers might solve the common problem with propofol in the medical practice,” said study author Tomoko Higashi, M.D., instructor, department of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan.

“Our approach is new, effective, simple, safe and costless,” Dr. Higashi said. “We hope that our study will further contribute to understanding the mechanisms of pain cognition and relief.”

Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with 41,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.