Intraarterial analgesia in peripheral arteriography.

A pilot study involving 36 patients was undertaken to test the efficacy of combining 1% lidocaine with 60% methylglucamine iothalamate for relief of the severe burning pain often experienced during peripheral arteriography. Of 24 patients premedicated with meperidine hydrochloride and promethazine hydrochloride, 12 received lidocaine with the contrast medium and 12 did not. The remaining 12 patients were premedicated with diazepam and received lidocaine with the contrast material. By both subjective and objective criteria, those patients receiving lidocaine in the intraarterial injection of contrast medium suffered less pain. Optimum results were achieved for the lidocaine group receiving analgesic premedication. No adverse reactions attributable to the lidocaine were encountered. Subsequent to completion of the pilot study, more than 300 patients have been studied with similar impressive results of pain relief and safety.