Do We Need Premedication Before Coronary Angiography? A Controlled Clinical Trial

BACKGROUND Premedication with benzodiazepines has been thought to reduce patient anxiety, pain perception, and non-catheter-induced coronary spasms and may increase procedure-related complications. We used to routinely provide premedication with diazepam and chlorpheniramine before cardiac catheterization procedures. However the benefits of such a treatment are not well established here. Therefore, we designed this study to test whether the routine use of premedication during coronary angiography is needed. METHODS A total of 200 consecutive patients scheduled to undergo either diagnostic or therapeutic coronary angiographic procedures were randomized to receive either premedication with diazepam (5 mg) and chlorpheniramine (4 mg) 60 minutes prior to their procedures (n = 100) or no premedication (n = 100). The administration of intravenous midazolam during the procedures was permitted at the operator's discretion. The primary endpoints were anxiety and pain perception during the procedure. RESULTS A total of 200 patients with similar baseline characteristics were randomized into two groups. The first group received oral premedication with diazepam (5 mg) and chlorphenamine (4 mg) 60 minutes prior to their procedures, and the other group did not receive premedication. We observed no differences in periprocedural pain perception (31% in the premedicated group versus 29% in the non-premedicated group; P = 0.75) or anxiety (59% in the premedicated group versus 50% in the non-premedicated group; P = 0.2). Interestingly, local pain was more pronounced in the premedicated patients than in the non-premedicated patients (30% versus 16%, respectively; P = 0.018). There were no contrast-related reactions reported in either group. CONCLUSION Treatment with oral diazepam and chlorphenamine prior to cardiac catheterization and percutaneous coronary intervention does not alter rates of anxiety, periprocedural pain.