Lidocaine and Cardioversion

Here's a question. If you were giving propofol for a Cardioversion (synchronized), would you mix lidocaine to prevent burning in the IV site? Why or why not?

Hey there

When i emergently cardiovert patients I use etomidate. The times I have used diprivan we did not give a lido mix injection and Ive actually not had a patient complain. Most of my cardioversions were in extremis.

When i think about the reasons im cardioverting a patient it is often for the unstable (read: hypotensive) patient. So the clinical situation comes into consideration. Diprivan and lidocaine can cause hypotension not preferable in an unstable patient.

Now an elective cardioversion it seems to be quite common to mix lidocaine with diprivan. I dont know if its the standard but I have seen it done in the EP lab an numerous occasions.

In regards to the finer points of diprivan and lidocaine, i defer to those using the mixture commonly.