Effect of intravenous lidocaine on the incidence of postextubation laryngospasm: A double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial.

Objectives: The study aimed to test the effect of intraoperative intravenous (IV) lidocaine on the incidence of postextubation laryngospasm in adult patients.

Methods: The prospective randomized clinical trial was conducted at tertiary care hospital in Riyadh, between January and December 2012. Seventy-two patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomly assigned to receive either placebo ( n = 36) or IV lidocaine ( n = 36), 1 mg/kg bolus after desflurane was discontinued. Laryngospasm was graded from 0 to 3 based on the absence or presence of signs and the severity of postextubation laryngospasm.

Results: The study was terminated early by the data monitoring committee because of safety concerns due to an increased incidence of postextubation laryngospasm. Patient demographics were similar for both groups. The incidence of postextubation laryngospasm was 19.5% in the placebo group and 0% in the treatment (lidocaine) group; this difference was statistically significant ( P = 0.017; 95% confidence interval, 4.6% to 36.0%).

Conclusions: The cause of laryngospasm in our study was most likely the rapid increase in the concentration of inspired desflurane, which might have caused airway irritation. Therefore, we believe that pretreating patients at risk of developing laryngospasm with IV lidocaine could be effective.