Comparison of the effects of pretreatment intravenous fentanyl or intravenous lidocaine on suppression of fentanyl-induced cough in children: a randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trial.

Background And Aim: The injection of fentanyl usually causes coughing during induction of anesthesia. Based on a few studies about effects of lidocaine and the fact there is no study concerning the effect of fentanyl on fentanyl-induced cough in pediatric patients, the aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of low dose of fentanyl with lidocaine in prevention of fentanyl-induced cough in children.

Methods: This randomized double-blind controlled clinical trial study was conducted at Motahari Hospital between February and August 2017 in Urmia (Iran). One hundred patients, aged 2-10 years, of class I or II ASA status who were candidates for elective herniorrhaphy under general anesthesia were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into three groups. One minute before the administration of 2 μg/kg fentanyl during induction of general anesthesia, Group I received 1.0 mg/kg lidocaine (n=33), Group II received 0.5 μg/kg fentanyl (n=34) and Group III received normal saline as a control group (n=33). The data were analyzed by STAT version 13. The incidence and severity of cough were determined across groups by using ANOVA and Chi-square tests. Multiple logistic regression was also used to examine the association between the outcome of cough incidence and clinical interventions as the exposures after adjusting for study covariates.

Results: The highest incidence of cough was found in the Group III (54.5%) versus 32.4% and 21.1% in Group II and Group I subsequently (p=0.02). We have also found significant difference in the incidence of cough among group one and three (p=0.005), and among group two and three (p=0.045). No statistically significant difference has been detected between group one and two. The severity of cough was significantly higher in Group III compared to Groups I and II (p=0.01). The time of onset of cough was similar across groups. No side effects were reported after intervention in this study.

Conclusion: This study found that pretreatment with fentanyl 0.5mg/kg or 1mg/kg lidocaine is an effective approach to reducing the incidence and severity of fentanyl-induced cough in children.

Trial Registration: The trial was registered at the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (http://WWW.irct.ir) with IRCT number: IRCT2016112027677N5.

Funding: This study was not granted or funded by any institution.