Lidocaine pretreatment effectively decreases the incidence of hiccups during methohexitone administration for dilatation and curettage

The efficacy of lidocaine 1 mg · kg^‐1 for prevention of methohexitone‐induced hiccups was assessed in a double‐blind fashion in 200 patients undergoing dilatation and curettage for pregnancy interruption. The patients were randomly assigned to receive either lidocaine 1% or saline 0.9% in a similar way (1 ml for every 10 kg of body weight). The incidence of hiccups was 16% in the control group compared to 6% in the lidocaine group. We speculate that this reduction in the methohexitone‐induced hiccup ratio is related to lidocaine's membrane‐stabilizing properties, which decrease the excitability of all the nervous structures involved in this reflex.