Effect of dexmedetomidine for attenuation of propofol injection pain in electroconvulsive therapy: a randomized controlled study

Current analgesic strategies for propofol injection pain may cause adverse reactions during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), such as shortening seizure duration. This study investigated whether dexmedetomidine could attenuate propofol injection pain in ECT. Participants were randomly allocated to receive 0.2 μg/kg dexmedetomidine (Dex-0.2 group), 0.5 μg/kg dexmedetomidine (Dex-0.5 group) or saline (control group) prior to ECT. The composite pain scale and objective Surgical Pleth Index (SPI) were used to measure the intensity of injection pain, and the percentage of patients with pain score > 2 was the primary outcome. Of 137 patients recruited, 46 were assigned to each of the Dex-0.2 or Dex-0.5 groups, while 45 were in the control group. The percentage of pain score > 2 was reduced from 68.9% (31/45) in the control group to 34.8% (16/46) in the Dex-0.2 group (P