P Pu ur rp po os se e: : A short recovery time for same day surgery is important to the patient and the hospital. A prospective, randomized, doubleblinded study in the postanesthetic care unit was designed to compare the recovery time from spinal anesthesia with low-dose intrathecal (IT) lidocaine and sufentanil to that with IT lidocaine alone. The incidence of adverse effects was also assessed.M Me et th ho od ds s: : Forty-nine patients (ASA I-III, age 20-69 yr) underwent spinal anesthesia for rectal surgery. The patients were randomized into two groups. One group (n = 28) received low-dose IT lidocaine (15 mg) and sufentanil (10 µg) and the other group (n = 21) received IT lidocaine (50 mg). The time to ambulation, the incidence of pruritus, and other variables were recorded. Statistical difference was assumed if P < 0.05.

P Pu ur rp po os se e: : Postoperative itching after intrathecal (IT) narcotics may be a difficult and important problem for both the anesthesiologist and the patient in the postanesthetic care unit. Since some studies have reported success in preventing itching with ondansetron, we designed a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, and controlled study to test whether prophylactic iv ondansetron effectively reduces the incidence of IT sufentanil-induced pruritus.M Me et th ho od ds s: : Thirty-four patients (ASA I-III, age 18-74 yr) underwent ambulatory surgery after spinal anesthesia with IT lidocaine (15-100 mg) and IT sufentanil (10 µg). The patients were randomized into two groups to receive iv either 4 mL saline (n = 13) or 8 mg ondansetron (n = 21) before the IT injection. The incidence of pruritus and other variables was recorded. Pruritus scores were obtained with a verbal analogue score with 0 meaning none and 10 the worst itching that the patient could imagine. Statistical difference was assumed if P < 0.05. R Re es su ul lt ts s: : Ondansetron did not reduce the incidence of pruritus (77 vs 81%) compared to placebo (P = 1.000). The pruritus scores (4.4 vs 3.6) of the two groups were not significantly different (P = 0.670).C Co on nc cl lu us si io on ns s: : There are contradictory findings in the literature regarding the effectiveness of ondansetron in preventing narcoticinduced itching. Although some studies have indicated that ondansetron could prevent this side effect of IT narcotics, a recent report suggested that ondansetron is not effective in preventing narcotic-induced itching (sufentanil-morphine) after a Cesarean section. In the present study we obtained similar, negative results. Objectif : Le prurit postopératoire induit par l'administration intrathé-cale (IT) de narcotiques est un problème important pour l'anesthésio-logiste et le patient en salle de réveil. Certaines études ont montré que l'ondansétron prévenait le prurit. Notre étude prospective, randomisée, contrôlée et à double insu voulait vérifier si l'administration iv préventive d'ondansétron réduit effectivement l'incidence de prurit induit par le sufentanil IT. Méthode : Trente-quatre patients (ASA I-III, de 18 à 74 ans) ont subi une intervention chirurgicale ambulatoire sous rachianesthésie avec de la lidocaïne IT (15-100 mg) et du sufentanil IT (10 µg). Les patients, randomisée en deux groupes, ont reçu soit 4 mL de solution saline iv (n = 13), soit 8 mg d'ondansétron (n = 21) avant l'injection IT. L'incidence de prurit et d'autres variables a été notée. Les scores de