Lidocaine for pain relief during nasogastric intubation: systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:Procedural acute pain is a common experience associated with nasogastric tube insertion. Nevertheless, there is an important gap in the knowledge on its management. Lidocaine seems an effective option for relieving procedural pain. The objective of this study was a systematic review with metanalysis to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of jelly, spray, atomized and nebulized lidocaine during nasogastric intubation in adult patients. CONTENTS: The Pubmed, LILACS, Scopus, CINAHL and Cochrane databases were searched using the keywords: pain, acute pain, pain management, lidocaine and gastrointestinal intubation. The identified articles were then screened according to the population, intervention, comparison, outcome and type of study. A total of 192 people were included, 30 of whom were healthy, while 162 had gastrointestinal disorders. The data revealed heterogeneity between the studies regarding the presentation and administration route of lidocaine, as well as the comparison groups. The group pain scores that received atomized lidocaine were significantly different from those of the control group (37.4 vs 64.5), the lidocaine spray group (23.6±16.6 vs 43.1±31.4) and the lidocaine gel group (33±29 vs 48±27). In the study evaluating lidocaine gel, atomized lidocaine and cocaine, the results were 19.3±24.9, 23.9±26.4, 30.5±29.6, respectively. Lidocaine for pain relief during nasogastric intubation: systematic review and meta-analysisLidocaína para o alívio da dor durante a intubação nasogástrica: revisão sistemática e meta-análise