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Prospective Comparison Between Buffered 1% Lidocaine-Epinephrine and Skin Cooling in Reducing the Pain of Local Anesthetic Infiltration
Dermatologic Surgery, 08/01/2012
Clinical Article
Al Shahwan MA – There is no significant difference between buffered anesthetic solution and skin cooling in reducing the pain of infiltration of 1% lidocaine – epinephrine.
Methods- Sixty healthy volunteers were recruited for this prospective study.
- Each subject received an intradermal injection of buffered solution in one arm and injection of unbuffered solution after ice application in the other arm.
- Immediately after each injection, subjects rated pain of infiltration on a 100-mm visual analog scale.
- Pain scores were compared using the paired t-test.
- Sixty percent of subjects reported that pain of infiltration was greater after skin cooling than with buffered solution.
- Mean ± standard deviation pain scores were 24.8 ± 21.7 for skin cooling and 21.1 ± 20.8 for buffered solution; this difference was not statistically significant.
