Korean J Anesthesiol.  2012 Dec;63(6):504-509. 10.4097/kjae.2012.63.6.504.

The effect of gender on EC50 of remifentanil to prevent pain during injection of microemulsion propofol

• Lee BW
• Kim SH
• So KY

• KMID: 2236250
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2012.63.6.504

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Propofol injection pain is an unpleasant experience to patients and its prevalence can be influenced by age and gender. We determined the half maximal effective concentration (EC50) of remifentanil for preventing the microemulsion propofol injection pain in the male and female adult groups.
METHODS
After institutional review board approval, a total of 60 patients were assigned into 2 groups depending on their gender: group M (male, 20-65 yr) and group F (female, 20-65 yr). Anesthesia was induced with propofol and remifentanil, by a target-controlled infusion. Target effect-site concentration (Ce) of propofol and remifentanil for the first patient started at 4.0 ug/ml and 4.0 ng/ml. Ce of remifentanil for each subsequent patient was determined by the response of the previous patient by the Dixon's up-and-down method (DUDM) with an interval of 0.2 ng/ml. After equilibration of plasma and effect site remifentanil concentration, propofol was administered, and the pain responses were observed.
RESULTS
The remifentanil EC50 was 3.8 +/- 0.2 and 2.7 +/- 0.2 ng/ml in groups M and F, respectively, by DUDM. From Probit regression model, the remifentanil EC50 was 3.7 (3.0-4.3) and 2.7 (1.8-2.9) ng/ml in groups M and F, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS
The remifentanil EC50 for preventing the moderate to severe injection pain of propofol was higher in males than in females.

Keyword

Gender identity; Pain; Propofol; Remifentanil

MeSH Terms

Adult
Anesthesia
Ethics Committees, Research
Female
Gender Identity
Humans
Male
Piperidines
Plasma
Prevalence
Propofol
Piperidines
Propofol