A prospective observational study of injection pain in children with medium plus long chain triglyceride and long chain triglyceride propofol premixed with lignocaine

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Propofol injection pain is an unresolved problem in children. Although medium and long chain triglyceride (MCT-LCT) propofol has shown promising results in adults, its efficacy in children is not proven. In a prospective observational study the incidence and severity of pain with MCT-LCT and LCT propofol in children was compared. METHODS: After obtaining approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee, 170 children (age group 6 months to 8 years) scheduled for various surgeries were included in this study. Following standard pre-medication, propofol 1% either LCT or MCT-LCT in a dose of 2–4 mg/kg along with preservative-free lignocaine (2% lignocaine 1 mg in propofol 10 mg) was administered. The primary objective was to study injection pain on scale of 0–6. For children ≤2 years doubling of motor event score (0–3) and for children >2 years, addition of motor (0–3) and verbalisation scores (0–3) were considered. Mann–Whitney U test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: MCT-LCT group had lower incidence of pain (17 patients (20%) versus 35 patients (35.3%), P = 0.026) and severe pain (zero patients (0%) versus six patients (7.1%), P = 0.029) as compared to LCT group. MCT-LCT group had significantly lower mean rank of motor (79.65 versus 91.35), verbal (77.29 versus 90.79) and total score (77.76 versus 93.24) as compared to LCT group (P = 0.037, 0.002, and 0.009, respectively). CONCLUSION: MCT-LCT propofol is associated with significantly lower injection pain as compared to LCT propofol in children, when both are combined with lignocaine.