The findings of the present study showed that the duration of myoclonus was shorter in patients receiving ondansetron along with etomidate compared to those receiving placebo and etomidate. The incidence and intensity of myoclonus was also lower in the ondansetron group compared to placebo. Furthermore, no correlation was observed between age, gender, ASA class and medical history of patients with the occurrence of myoclonus. The severity of myoclonus increased with age, however, no correlation was observed with the other aforementioned factors.
To date, various drugs have been investigated to prevent the heterogeneity of brain activity caused by etomidate in order to control the centers responsible for the development of myoclonus. Propofol, ketamine and etomidate are among these drugs, each of which have specific side effects. In this regard, the multiple advantages of etomidate, such as speed of action, cardiovascular stability with minimal respiratory side effects, and intracranial pressure protection, have introduced it as an ideal back agent for rapid induction, especially for patients with an unstable hemodynamic status (8). Etomidate is a GABA receptor that suppresses the reticular activating system of the central nervous system. Although many drugs have been tested to reduce the amount of myoclonic activity after etomidate administration, the neural mechanism of etomidate-induced myoclonus is unclear. Nevertheless, this drug has side effects including pain during injection and the risk of myoclonus occurrence (9).
Etomidate-induced myoclonus seems to be the result of impaired subcortical inhibition. The use of etomidate can lead to a decreased activity of the cerebral cortex (10, 11).
Etomidate suppresses the activation system of the central nervous system by interacting with GABA receptors. Dysfunction of GABA neurons increases the sensitivity of pathways related to skeletal muscle control. These events eventually lead to myoclonic muscle contractions. (12).
Most related studies on the present issue have focused on the comparison of etomidate with a control group and have mainly emphasized on the benefits of prescribing etomidate during anesthesia induction compared to its non-application (9, 10).
According to the findings of a meta-analysis, the incidence and severity of myoclonus caused by etomidate injection in patients treated with midazolam was lower than the control group (5). Accordingly, in 2019, a double-blind clinical trial by Nazemroaya et al. investigated the effect of pretreatment with low-dose midazolam in reducing myoclonus caused by etiomidate. In this study, the patients were divided into three groups receiving midazolam (0.015 mg), etomidate (0.03 mg) and placebo. The findings indicated a lower frequency of myoclonic movements in the midazolam group compared to the placebo and etomidate groups. However, the intensity of myoclonic movements was higher in the midazolam group compared to the other two groups. Vital signs, seizures’ duration, recovery time and the occurrence of apnea were also evaluated; except for the duration of seizures, which was shorter in the midazolam group, no difference was observed between the two groups (13).
In a similar study by Hüter et al., midazolam 0.015 mg/kg was administered to patients with selective cardioversion for 90 seconds before induction of anesthesia with etomidate, and the results showed a decrease in myoclonic movements (14). These findings have been confirmed by Wazinwong, Hwang, Zhou and Alipour studies (5, 15–17). Other studies having used higher doses of midazolam, also further confirmed the aforementioned effects (16, 18). In the study by Nazemroaya et al., the dosage used was different from that of other studies and myoclonus was reported in 24% of the patients. However, in other studies having used a similar dose, the rate of myoclonus varied and was reported between 10 to 60% (15–18).
In general, the efficacy of midazolam in controlling etiomidate-induced myoclonus has been confirmed. However, in order to prevent the side effects caused by midazolam such as reduced level of consciousness and apnea, it is very important to use drugs with fewer side effects. In our study, ondansetron was introduced as a suitable drug for controling etiomidate-induced myoclonus.
To date, no study has investigated the effect of ondansetron on etomidate-induced myoclonus. However, some studies have focused on the effects of this drug on other side effects similar to that of etomidate, such as shivering after anesthesia. Postoperative hypothermia and shivering are frequent and unpleasant side effects of general and local anesthesia (19). Prevention and treatment of post-anesthesia shivering is an important aspect of patient care, as it may be associated with a number of harmful consequences, including increased oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production. Shivering may lead to increase in metabolic activity, increased oxygen uptake up to 100% and arterial hypoxia, which are associated with an increased risk of myocardial ischemia (20). Inhibition of the HT3-5 system leads to a dose-dependent reduction in shivering. Ondansetron is a specific HT3-5 receptor antagonist (12). The mechanism of action of this drug can be related to inhibition of serotonin in the preoptic area of the anterior hypothalamus (21). In this regard, a double-blind randomized clinical trial was conducted with the aim of comparing the effectiveness of ondansetron and meperidine on 90 patients undergoing general anesthesia; the results indicated the effectiveness of ondansetron versus meperidine in preventing post-operative shivering. There was no difference in the amount of myoclonus, seizures and rashes between the two groups (6). Similarly, Kelsaka et al. study has supported the effect of ondansetron on preventing postoperative shivering (21). However, the results of another study indicated that ondansetron does not respond to the shivering threshold. The difference in the results of these studies can be due to the different dosage of the prescribed drug used (21, 22).
The effectiveness of different anesthetic drugs on etomidate-induced myoclonus has been investigated in various studies. Rapid induction without any complications is an ideal feature. Both etomidate and propofol enable rapid induction (22). Propofol is the most common intravenous anesthetic drug which its low dose (0.25 to 0.75 mg per kg) effect has been confirmed in reducing etomidate-induced myoclonus by several studies (12, 24).
Due to the hemodynamic stability and minimal respiratory reduction in patients receiving etomidate, this drug has a wider safety margin than barbiturates or propofol (25). Although the use of narcotics is effective in reducing postoperative pain and myoclonus, the use of these drugs in addition to propofol increases the risk of prolonged apnea (25, 26), decreases arterial blood pressure (27), and also increases the incidence of nausea and vomiting (15). By increasing the dose of propofol, the incidence of side effects such as respiratory inhibition and blood pressure drop, increases (28).
Low-dose ketamine has also shown its efficacy in preventing painful myoclonus (8). Although the neural mechanism of etomidate-induced myoclonus is unknown, some studies have shown that myoclonus activity may be associated with N-methyl-D-aspartate seizures. Ketamine acts by blocking glutamatergic neurotransmission through N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors (8, 29). Also, pre-administration of low-dose ketamine is useful in improving intubation status and postoperative analgesia management (30, 31). The study of Hoyer et al. confirmed the superiority of ketamine over etomidate in terms of seizure duration (32).
Other studies have shown that lidocaine (20 mg) and thiopental (0.1 mg/kg) can also reduce myoclonus (33, 34). In addition, gabapentin (800 and 1200 mg) can reduce the frequency and severity of myoclonic movements associated with etiomidate (35).
Among myoclonus-controlling drugs, pretreatment with narcotics is the most effective method (4). Opioid receptors activation can inhibit seizures. A meta-analysis was conducted to investigate the effect of pretreatment with narcotics on etomidate-induced myoclonus prevention. It showed that the use of narcotics leads to a reduction in myoclonic movements (36). Zhang et al. found no difference between midazolam and butorphanol (a narcotic) in controlling myoclonic movements, but their combined treatment had superior effects (37). Another study showed that the incidence of myoclonus after pretreatment with fentanyl 100, 250 and 500 microgram intravenously 5 minutes before anesthesia induction with etomidate was 33, 13 and 0%, respectively, but the prevalence of apnea increased up to 87, 87 and 100 percent, respectively (38). Furthermore, cough, chest wall stiffness and apnea have been observed in patients treated with fentanyl (39, 40). In general, high doses of opioids (fentanyl, sufentanil, and remifentanil) effectively reduce myoclonic movements, but are associated with adverse side effects such as cough, apnea, respiratory depression, and chest wall stiffness (4).
Nevertheless, some studies have investigated the effectiveness of sedative drugs on etomidate-induced myoclonus. Some drugs, such as dezocin, mainly bind to opioid k-receptors and modulate them. A clinical trial showed the incidence of myoclonus decrease to zero after using dezocin. However, some patients in the dezocin group complained of dizziness or nausea (41). The findings of a meta-analysis indicated that pre-injection of dezocin reduces the incidence of myoclonus and its severity, but does not affect dizziness, nausea and heart rate (42). Levan et al. estimated the prevalence of myoclonus in patients who received 0.5 and 1 mg of dexmedetomidine to be 30 and 36%, which was significantly reduced compared to the isotonic saline group (63%) (43). these findings were also confirmed by Du et al. (44).
Several factors reduce etomidate-related myoclonus to different degrees. However, the exact mechanism of etomidate-induced reduction of myoclonus is unclear. It has been hypothesized that myoclonic activity may be associated with disinhibition of subcortical structures due to inhibition at the level of the spinal cord or cerebral cortex, instead of being associated with epilepsy (12, 18).