The evaluation of the effect of venous diameter measurement by ultrasonography on pain and withdrawal response

Abstract

Rocuronium and propofol are used in the induction of anesthesia give discomfort to the patients. We aimed to investigate the relationship between venous diameter measured using ultrasonography, and pain and withdrawal movements after propofol and rocuronium applied with intravenous (IV). This prospective-observational study was performed on 142 voluntary patients undergoing surgical operation under general anesthesia. An ultrasonography was used to measure the vein transverse diameter. Patients with a venous transverse diameter of ≤2mm were classified as group 1 (n = 50), while patients with a diameter of > 2mm were classified as group 2 (n = 92). The propofol pain was assessed according to the verbal rating scale (VRS). In addition, the withdrawal movements of the rocuronium injection were evaluated using the four-point scale. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of the demographic data. The patients have pain after propofol 38.2% and withdrawal movements after rocuronium 42.4% were detected. The maximum number of patients without pain after propofol injection (78.2%) and without withdrawal movements after rocuronium (76%) was found to be higher in group 2 (p = 0.001). In this study, we found a reduction in the incidence and severity of pain and withdrawal movements in intravenous propofol and rocuronium administration through peripheral venous vessels of large diameter. We believe that the clinical drug injection through vessels with large venous diameter with the help of USG may be a non-invasive, simple, and reliable method to reduce pain and withdrawal movements in propofol and rocuronium injections.