Promethazine hydrochloride reduces children’s agitation during ocular examination for trauma

Examination and intervention are always the causes of agitation, anxiety, and fear in children’s lives. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of promethazine hydrochloride in reducing children’s agitation during the ocular examination for trauma. In this interventional-clinical trial study, a total of 62 children referred to Al-Zahra Ophthalmology Hospital in Zahedan, Iran, were evaluated in two matched groups (case (n = 31) and control (n = 31)) for an initial examination of ocular trauma. Finally, the intervention was performed (giving placebo or promethazine hydrochloride cough syrup 20 minutes before the initial ocular examination at 0.5 mg/kg), and the demographic information form and researcher-made questionnaire modeled on the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) were completed. The obtained results revealed that the mean scores of physical/aggressive behaviors (p ˂ 0.001), physical/nonaggressive behaviors (p = 0.013), verbal/aggressive behaviors (p ˂ 0.001), and hiding behaviors (p ˂ 0.001) were significantly lower in the promethazine hydrochloride-receiving group than the placebo group. These findings demonstrated that promethazine hydrochloride cough syrup facilitated the examination among the pediatric patients who suffered from traumatic ocular injuries. However, further studies in this field need to be carried out through randomized controlled trials.