Lidocaine pretreatment reduces the frequency and severity of myoclonus induced by etomidate.

The objective of this study was to assess the effects of lidocaine on the incidence and severity of myoclonic movements induced by etomidate. Sixty patients were randomly assigned to receive either 20 mg lidocaine or saline (n = 30, each), 30 s before administration of etomidate (0.3 mg/kg). One minute after etomidate administration we assessed severity of myoclonus. Pretreatment with lidocaine significantly reduced both the incidence and severity of myoclonic movements. As a conclusion, lidocaine is an effective and safe drug to reduce the etomidate-induced myoclonus without significant side effects.