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Investigators assessed quality of sedation and pain control of inhaled nitrous oxide in a randomized, controlled, double-blind study involving 100 children (age range, 1–18 years) undergoing short diagnostic or therapeutic procedures in a pediatric pain unit or emergency department of an academic hospital in Spain. Patients received an equimolar mixture of 50% oxygen and nitrous oxide (EMONO) or placebo (premixed 50% nitrogen and oxygen) administered by pediatric anesthesiologists or critical care pediatricians. Propofol or sevoflurane was available for rescue analgesia in both groups.
The EMONO group was significantly older (mean age, 8.0 vs. 6.2 years). Mean scores on standardized pain scales were nearly 50% lower in the EMONO group than i…