Effects of different etomidate infusion speed on etomidate-induced myoclonus during anesthesia induction for patients undergoing thoracic surgery

Objective:To investigate the effect of the different etomidate infusion speed on etomidate-induced myoclonus during anesthesia induction for patients undergoing lung surgery.Methods: A total of 90 male patients scheduled for thoracic surgery under genaral anesthesia were divided randomly into 3 groups with 30 cases each according to etomidate infusion speed in anesthesia induction.During anesthesia induction,etomidate 250 μg/kg was infused firstly and then solely with etomidate infusion by the speed of 200 μg/s(group V200),400 μg/s(group V400) or 800 μg/s(group V800).After the intravenous infusion of etomidate,the scales and incidences of myoclonus were observed and the value of MAP,HR and SpO2 was recorded at the following time points: the beginning(T0) and the end(T1)of infusion of etomidate and 2 min(T2) after the infusion finished.Results: The positive incidences of myoclonus were 3.3% in group V200,33.3% in group V400,73.3% in group V800,respectively.Compared with group V400 or V800,groups V200 had lower positive incidences and scales significantly(P0.05).Conclusion: Reducing the infusion speed of etomidate may reduce the incidences and the scales of etomidate-induced myoclonus during anesthesia induction.