A Pilot Study on the Use of Methoxyflurane (Penthrox®) for Pain Control in the Emergency Department
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2020-11-21
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Patients commonly visit the emergency department (ED) for pain after musculoskeletal injury
and need early treatment with analgesic. Prompt and adequate pain relief can reduce suffering
and promote early discharge and return to work. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
and opioids are the major injectable analgesic used for moderate to severe pain in EDs in
Hong Kong. They are given via intravenous or intramuscular route for faster onset of action
to achieve rapid pain relief in the emergency setting. However, injections are invasive and
can be distressing for patients. Methoxyflurane (Penthrox®) is recently introduced to our
emergency department as an inhalational analgesic. It has been granted registration approval
in Hong Kong since 2018, but it is not widely used in the locality. Methoxyflurane is a
volatile fluorinated hydrocarbon self-administrated by inhalation through a portable
hand-held whistle-shaped inhaler device (Penthrox®) to relieve pain associated with trauma or
minor surgical procedures in stable and conscious patients. In this study, the investigators
will evaluate the efficacy and safety Penthrox® in the treatment of acute traumatic pain in
hospital emergency department setting by comparing it to another conventional analgesic
commonly used.