title: Effect of a topical anesthetic cream (EMLA) in reducing pain caused by infiltration of local anesthetic in eyelid surgery.
abstract: EMLA (eutectic mixture of local anesthetics) cream is a topical formulation of a mixture of lidocaine and prilocaine. It has been used to achieve local analgesia after application under an occlusive dressing. We carried out a double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial to assess the effect of 5% EMLA (25 mg/mL of lidocaine and of prilocaine) in reducing the pain caused by infiltration of local anesthetic in eyelid surgery. Pain was assessed by means of a modified visual analogue scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (excruciating pain) in 25 consecutive patients (average age 65 years) undergoing bilateral eyelid surgery. Clinical significance was defined as a difference in pain scores of 3 or more between EMLA and placebo. The mean pain scores for EMLA and placebo were 3.1 and 4.0 respectively, a nonsignificant difference. The EMLA preparation was found not to be clinically effective in reducing pain caused by infiltration of local anesthetic in eyelid surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, McGill University, Montreal.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Degnan
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Codère
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sloan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005141:Eyelid Diseases / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008012:Lidocaine; D000077442:Lidocaine, Prilocaine Drug Combination; D008297:Male; D009824:Ointments; D010146:Pain / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011318:Prilocaine
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D004338:Drug Combinations; D000077442:Lidocaine, Prilocaine Drug Combination; D009824:Ointments; D011318:Prilocaine; D008012:Lidocaine