Comparison of the efficacies of topical anaesthetics in the reduction of the pain during peripheral intravenous cannulation: A randomised trial

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to compare the efficacies of two different topical anesthetic agents and placebo in the reduction of the pain observed during intravenous (IV) cannulation. Methods: Study enrolled a total of 129 healthy male donors and IV cannulation was performed to antecubital region. The donors were assigned into three groups. Prilocaine-lidocaine mixture cream (E), lidocaine spray (X) and Placebo cream (P) were given to patients. After the administration the donors were waited for approximately 45 minutes. The pain experienced by the donors after the insertion of 16 gauge cannula in arms was recorded as "pain experienced at minute 0, 5 and 15" on 100 mm visual analog scale (VAS). Results: In the first group, there was no significant difference between mean VAS scores recorded after the administration of prilocainelidocaine mixture cream and lidocaine spray before IV cannulation. Mean VAS value was 9.1 mm with prilocaine-lidocaine mixture cream and 9.3 mm with lidocaine spray. In the second group, we detected significant difference between mean VAS scores recorded after the administration of lidocaine spray and placebo cream. Mean VAS value was 9.8 mm with lidocaine spray and 24.3 mm with placebo (p<0.05). In the third group, we found statistically significant difference between VAS scores recorded after the administration of prilocaine-lidocaine mixture cream and placebo cream. Mean VAS value was 8.8 mm with prilocaine-lidocaine mixture cream and 33.0 mm with placebo cream (p<0.05). Conclusion: Although both agents administrated before IV cannulation were superior to placebo in adult patients in this study, we can state that these drugs were not superior to each other and showed similar efficacy.